Sakura
by Kat11992
Summary: A Naruto rewrite where Sakura is not weak and had a terrible family past. Join Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto on a different adventure, complete with Action, Romance, and a touch of Humor. Safe rating, pairings? maybe. UNDER RENOVATION.
1. Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!

**Enter: Naruto Uzumaki! **

**Disclaimer:**_** I do NOT own Naruto or any of its amazing characters.**_

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><p>Long ago, a nine-tailed fox terrorized the village. It slaughtered thousands of the most skilled and powerful ninja thus, destroying everything and anything in its way.<p>

One courageous and formidable ninja sacrificed his life to capture the beast and seal it in a human body. This body turned out to be a baby named Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto had spiky blonde hair and bright cerulean eyes; because of the sealing, the boy had gained three marks on both sides of his cheek looking like cat whiskers and a spiral-like tattoo on the center of his stomach.

Pity though, Naruto had no family. Sure he used to have one, but no one really knows what had happened to them. Rumours spread like wildfire saying that Naruto's family was killed either _by_ him or _because _of him.

The villagers knew that Naruto had been sealed with the beast but they didn't know better and believed the said rumours about this poor little boy. This is why he was treated like such an outcast—people were timorous of even coming up and saying 'hi' to him.

Every time he'd pass in the village, he would get glared at, hidden from, or shunned away. He would see parents talking to their children telling them to stay away from him and the children would obey. The children would sometimes bump into Naruto, but before he could help the child up, the mother/father would approach and take their child away then sneer at Naruto.

"I thought I told you to stay away from that child," one parent said eyeing Naruto, "He's a danger to us and to the village."

"I know mama," said the child, "but it was an accident, I didn't mean to—"

"You will never talk to child again do you hear me?" the parent scolded while walking away, "Never again."

Naruto stared at the backs of the parent and child and looked down, his eyes covered by his blonde locks. Without another word, he turned around and headed to his own apartment.

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><p>Naruto was relatively patient and would just endure all the insults being thrown at him by walking away or ignoring them, but you can't thwart him from getting fed up with them either.<p>

That was why as he was walking through the streets one day…

A woman suddenly gasped when she saw him, and she pulled her child behind her, "Miserable excuse for a child," she muttered, loud enough for Naruto to hear.

_Just ignore them, Naruto…just ignore them and walk away… _Naruto kept telling himself.

A child was about to stride past Naruto when the father hastily grabbed the child's hand and pulled him away.

"Juko, stay away from that kid, okay?" the man said hauling his own son away.

_Control yourself Naruto…just control yourself… _Naruto told himself again.

But the invective didn't stop there. The more he kept pacing the streets, the more ranting he heard about himself.

Unconsciously, he found himself sprinting as fast as he can with tears in his eyes.

_Why are they so afraid of me? I haven't done anything wrong have I? What is it about me that scares them? _

After a moment of comprehension, Naruto suddenly skids to a stop and looks upon the ground, his vivid yellow hair covering his eyes.

_Why do I even take this? No person deserves this. I'll show them…_

"Stop it! It's not like I can't hear you!" he blurted out.

Silence had abruptly filled the streets, no one dared to answer to this kid.

"One day you're all gonna respect me! I'll show you, all of you!" This was when he lifted his gaze from the ground and looked upon the majority of those who stopped and listened.

"I'm gonna be the greatest hokage this village has ever known!" He then pumped his fist into the air, eyes shining with determination.

And there was silence.

But at the instant that Naruto turned around, he heard faint chuckles which then turned into earsplitting laughter.

Naruto simply walked away.

He awaits the day that he would prove them wrong.

His aspiration would be to become the village Hokage one day.

_I'll show them, I'll become the Hokage. Believe it!_

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><p><strong>Next:<strong>** Enter: Sakura Haruno**

"_...you're gonna be a ninja..."_

"_...mommy's gone...?"_

"_...goodbye Saki..."_

"_...they left me..."_

"_...who are you...?"_

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><p><strong><em>Chapter One: REVISED. <em>**

**_Note: Chapters 1 - 3 will be VERY short. They only serve as a prologue about the characters..._**


	2. Enter: Sakura Haruno!

**Enter: Sakura Haruno!**

**Disclaimer: **_**I do NOT own Naruto. Why? Because I'm not a multi-millionaire who can buy the rights from Masashi Kishimoto. (Oooh, BURRRRRN!)**_

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><p>The Haruno clan. This was one of the most prestigious and empowered clans found in the Hidden Leaf (next to the Hyuga and Uchiha clans of course).<p>

I know what you're thinking. If the Uchiha clan and the Hyuga clan had some sort of kekei genkai, did that mean that the Haruno clan did too?

The answer is: Yes.

Their kekei genkai was the skill of perfect chakra control and the ability to use and control all the elements through jutsu. (Simply, _any _of the Haruno clan members can perfect any jutsu that has something to do with the elements.) Not only can they use the four natural ones such as fire, water, earth, and wind—they are also able to use other complicated elements like ice and lightning.

If trained properly, a single Haruno can harness its ability to be able to control the weather. A solitary Haruno can lead to the destruction of an entire village.

Unfortunately, the members of this clan are already dying out for most of them perished in the war against one of the villages long ago. The more fortunate clans (e.g. Uchiha and Hyuga) were able to relocate themselves into safety before the _real _blood-shed began. The Haruno clan wasn't so lucky, they weren't able to prepare for such a predicament and so they fought for their lives in the battle.

One of the men from this clan were able to save his family from certain fatality, and according to the records, this is the only living family of Harunos left. This was the family of Maiteki Haruno.

Alas, Maiteki was not able to save himself, only his family. This consisted of his wife Kunari, his son Hiroshi, and his yet-to-be-born daughter Sakura.

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><p>When Kunari gave birth to Sakura, they resided in the hidden leaf village.<p>

Hiroshi trained and graduated from the academy the morning before his sister was born.

Kunari found herself barely able to support her family. What could she do? Kunari was only a commoner and they used the money that they gained from Maiteki's missions to sustain their family. But Maiteki was gone now; she had to find something to do quickly.

Thankfully, she worked everything out with the Hokage and they were allowed to move out of the village so Kunari could acquire work the only ways she can.

This instignated Hiroshi's inability to continue his ninja training, but he did not complain. He wanted to do everything he can for his family, it's the least he can do for his father.

Everything turned out alright...

Kunari found a job as a caretaker in an inn; her pay was reasonably high enough to nourish her family.

Hiroshi would take care of his younger sister while their mother worked (and sneak a small fraction of ninja training in between).

Sakura grew beautifully and exceptionally. Her short pink tresses (which she got from her mother) would always be clipped to the sides of her head so that it won't conceal her stunning face. Her emerald orbs (which she inherited from her father) were bedazzling, her skin was smooth and pale, she had a cute button nose, and thin yet luscious lips.

And everything was well for the family.

For now.

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><p>"Mommy! Mommy!" The five year old Sakura rushed over to her mother and jumped into her arms.<p>

"Welcome home, mom," said Hiroshi as he softly pecked his mother's cheek.

"Hi Sakura, Hiroshi," Kunari said, breathless from fatigue, "Did you already eat dinner?"

Sakura nodded, "Uh huh! Hiroshi cooked for me!"

"Good," Kunari breathed out.

"Mommy are you okay?" Sakura asked innocently.

"Yes, I'm...fine..." Kunari replied, "Go upstairs and play, okay?"

Sakura smiled and then ran to her room.

"Mom," Hiroshi said, his voice serious and concerned, "You can't keep pushing yourself like this. You know that you're...sick..." He barely whispered the last word.

Kunari made herself tea and sighed, "I know, Hiroshi. But who's gonna keep you two alive?"

"Me," Hiroshi replied surely, "If we can just go back to the hidden leaf village, I'll become a ninja! And everything would be—"

"For the last time, no, Hiroshi!" said Kunari slamming her hand on the table, "I've had enough of this ninja nonsense! I don't want anything happening to you or Sakura, do I make myself clear?"

Hiroshi looked down, defeated, "Yes, mom."

"Now," Kunari said standing up, "Would you like some—" She cut herself off by clutching her heart.

"Mom?" Hiroshi asked, worried, "Are you okay?"

"I'm—(cringe)—fine."

"No, you're not."

Kunari clutched her heart one more time, tighter. "Ye—(cringe)"

"Mom?" Hiroshi called out, "Mom?"

And that was the last thing Kunari heard before darkness enveloped her.

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><p>Hiroshi had rushed his mother to the hospital, dragging along with him a very scared Sakura.<p>

"Hi-Hiroshi, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, innocently, "Why is mommy sleeping?"

"I'll tell you about it later," he replied without looking at her.

The doctor came in with a glum expression on his face.

"How is she, doctor?" Hiroshi asked anxiously. Little Sakura couldn't help but listen.

"I'm sorry," was all that the doctor could say.

And at that exact moment...

BEEEEEEEEEEEP.

"No! Mom!" Hiroshi said, rushing over to his mother's side, "Mom!" He then turned and faced the doctor, "Can't you do anything?" he practically shrieked it out.

The doctor could only shake his head.

Hiroshi started tearing up and he placed his head on his mother's chest. A little later, he started sobbing.

"Hiroshi, what's wrong?" Sakura asked trying to hold back tears herself.

Hiroshi carried Sakura up and placed sat her beside their mother. "She's gone, Sakura. Mommy's gone," he told her.

"No," Sakura said tearing up even more, "Mommy's just s-sleeping! She's not dead! Mommy's gonna-gonna wake up! I know she will!"

Hiroshi held Sakura's shoulders and shook them hard, rage and regret grazing his features, "Wake up, Sakura! Mom's dead! She's really dead! She's dead and there's nothing we can do about it! So shut up and accept it!" He yelled.

Sakura's eyes widened, she's never seen Hiroshi like this before. "Hi-Hiroshi..." she said trying to touch him.

He moved away from her touch and stood up, "I'm going home. You know the way." He told that to her harshly.

And Sakura broke down.

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><p>Sakura stepped into her house the next morning at 1 am. She wanted nothing more than to sleep in her comfy bed. But before doing so, she looked over at the couch where Hiroshi was sitting on and smoking cigarette.<p>

Sakura just sighed and went up to her room.

Once there, she sobbed into her pillow until sleep overcame her.

Hiroshi stood up from her position in the couch and grabbed his bag filled with ninja weapons.

He slowly opened the door making sure that no sound was made by it and left without turning back.

_This is my chance...Goodbye forever Sakura..._

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><p>The next morning, Sakura went downstairs and found that the usual smell of cooking breakfast was absent.<p>

When she made it to the kitchen, she found no one there.

Sakura looked all around her house but found no one.

_Where's Hiroshi?_

_Hiroshi...he must've left me..._

Again, Sakura lied down on her carpet and wept into it, soaking it with all the tears she had left.

When she found that she really had no tears left to cry, she got up and started fixing herself.

She took her now long hair and braided it to the right side.

It wasn't long until she heard a knocking on her door.

She stood up and opened the door. She found two men in green vests and masks.

The two men couldn't believe how pretty this little girl was. "Excuse us pretty little girl," one of them said in a sweet tone, "we're looking for Hiroshi and Sakura Haruno."

Sakura looked at them firmly, "I'm Sakura Haruno."

The other one crouched down to her level, "where's your brother?"

Sakura let her eyes drop to the floor, "he left."

"Where did he go?" he asked her.

"He. Left. Me." She said, "I'm alone now."

The two anbus couldn't believe how mature this girl was at the age of five. Her mother's dead, and her brother left her, yet she still carries on.

The first man crouched down and asked her, "Do you know what a ninja is, sweetheart?"

_Ninja._That's what she wanted. She nodded.

"Do you want to become one?" he asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Then you have to come with us." He added, plainly.

"Where…where are we going?" She asked as she was carried by one of them on his back.

"To the village hidden in the leaves." He replied, "You know where that is, don't you?"

"That's where I came from," she said.

The two men nodded to each other.

After a few minutes they arrived at the Hokage's office. The man set Sakura down and the men bowed down in respect, "We brought her, Lord Hokage."

Sakura looked up; it was an old man, wearing a robe of some sort with a funny cap on the top of his head. The man looked at her and smiled.

The two men whispered something to the old man, and then were gone in a flash.

The old man held Sakura's hand and sat her down.

"My, my," he said, "such a pretty girl. You sure got your good looks from your father."

Her eyes widened, "you knew my father?"

"Yes," he said his back facing her, "he was a very great ninja. Such a shame, you didn't meet him."

Sakura's heart dropped, but she showed no hint of emotion on her face.

"Tell me sweetie," he said facing her, "you know what a ninja is right?"

Sakura nodded.

The old man smiled, "you're going to be a great one."

Sakura cocked her head to the side to show confusion.

"You start first thing tomorrow morning. I'm sending you to the academy." He told her.

_The academy!_She thought, _that's where Hiroshi studied to become a ninja._

"I'll also give you a place to live here in my village, a small apartment," he eyed her with curiosity, "can you handle yourself?"

Sakura thought about it. She knew how to cook, clean, and shop for groceries and clothes. "I can." She told him.

"I admire you Sakura," the old man told her, "you're so strong at such a young age."

Sakura didn't respond.

The two men before came back into the room.

"Bring her to her new home," he told them.

The man held her hand and was leading her out of the office when she called out, "wait!"

She turned around to the old man, "who are you?"

The man smiled, "I am the Hokage, you'll learn more about me in the academy."

Without the slightest hint of emotion, she said, "thank you."

She was being led through the streets to her new home, everyone was staring at her. She thought everyone stared at her because they pitied her. But in sooth, they were staring at her because of her unique beauty. The little boys immediately had a small crush on her.

She reached her new home and was left alone to unpack her new things.

_This is where I'm staying, huh? I'm going to become a great shinobi, and that would be my ultimate goal. I promise to protect all those I will care about, they would not die anymore because of me…_

She slumped into her new bed, and let sleep envelope her. After all, she was expecting a new day ahead.

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><p><strong><span>Next:<span> Enter: Sasuke Uchiha!**

_"...I didn't mean to..."_

_"...sharingan..."_

_"...little brother..."_

_"...pretty..."_

_"...Itachi, just you wait..."_

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><p><strong><em>CHAPTER TWO: REVISED!<em>**

**_Hope you liked it better now._**


	3. Enter: Sasuke Uchiha!

**Enter: Sasuke Uchiha!**

**Disclaimer:**_**I do NOT own Naruto, or Sasuke...I don't even own Sakura! :(**_

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><p>The Uchiha clan was one of the most abundant and esteemed clans who resided in Hidden Leaf village. Not only do they possess good looks and credible skills, they are also well-known for the bloodline trait which is The Sharingan.<p>

The Sharingan has its own remarkable abilities. Firstly, it can see the flow of chakra; therefore, it could easily see if a person is under a genjutsu. Second, it grants the user an incredible clarity of perception, allowing them to recognize genjutsu and different forms of chakra. This allows them to lip-read or copy pencil movements. Third, it can grant the user to memorize any technique that he witnesses, allowing the user to use the techniques as their own or modify them to create their own techniques. The Sharingan's final capability is capable of inducing a brand of hypnosis that enables to user to suggest movements and thoughts to the opponent through simple eye-contact.

But let's focus less on their abilities and more on the protagonists...

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><p>A young boy with dark, raven-like hair and onyx eyes was sitting atop a tree stump watching his older brother do his exercises. His name? Sasuke Uchiha.<p>

Sasuke was so astounded at how his brother could hit every bulls-eye on the target with his kunai without looking.

"Itachi!" the little boy exclaimed, "You're so good! Could you teach me how to do that?"

Itachi Uchiha was exhausted, and smiled weakly at his little brother, "Maybe next time, Sasuke."

Sasuke pouted and crossed his arms, "You never teach me."

Itachi simply chuckled at his brother's immaturity and carried Sasuke on his back. "Let's head on home, Sasuke," Itachi told him, "Mom and Dad are waiting."

When they arrived home, they found the table to be set and dinner already on the table.

Itachi sat down beside his father, and Sasuke sat in between Itachi and his mother.

After a few minutes of awkward silence and eating, Mikoto thought it was best to try and start a conversation.

"Sasuke," Mikoto Uchiha asked her son, "how are you doing at the academy?"

Sasuke grinned, "I'm doing great mom, and I'm top one in class."

"Tch," said Fugaku, his father, "I expect more from you. I'm sure you know Itachi graduated the academy when he was only seven, he mastered the Sharingan a year later, became a chunin at age ten, and is now and Anbu captain."

"Fugaku!" Mikoto exclaimed, "Sasuke's doing his best. He's already at the top! What more can you ask for?"

Fugaku merely "Hn."ed and then ate his meal in silence.

"Itachi," Mikoto said, "maybe you should train Sasuke to be as good as you."

"Tch. Itachi's way too busy," interrupted Fugaku, "he has other more important matters to attend to other than his brother."

"Fugaku!" Mikoto exclaimed.

He just stood up and left the room. Itachi excused himself as well.

Mikoto looked at her younger son and patted his head, "It's okay Sasuke, we don't expect every little thi—"

"No, mom," Sasuke cut her off, "I'm going to be a great ninja just like Itachi! I promise to even surpass him someday!" as he stood up and ran outside, Mikoto shook her head.

She looked out the window and saw Sasuke run to the training grounds. _I don't expect everything from you, Sasuke._

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><p>It was a dark day; the clouds seemed heavy and thunderous.<p>

Sasuke was making his way out of the academy when he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Ow," a cute little voice said.

He looked and saw that it was one of his classmates—with pink hair? _Umm...what was her name again? Sakira...Sakuna? Oh, I remember! Sakura! _

The moment when his onyx eyes met her emerald orbs, he felt his heart melt.

She stared at him with wide emerald eyes, "I'm so sorry Sasuke! I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," Sasuke cut her off, "it was my fault too."

Sakura bowed her head, "I'm sorry, now I really have to go." She started taking off, "bye."

"Bye," said Sasuke.

He was surprised that Sakura was taking the exact direction he was.

When Sakura felt someone following her, she looked back. It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha. "Are you following me?" she asked him with her hands on her hips.

"No," replied Sasuke, "My house is also this way."

"Oh," she mouthed.

When they reached an intersection, however, Sasuke had to go straight and Sakura needed to turn right.

Before turning, Sakura looked at Sasuke and smiled, "Bye, Sasuke. See you tomorrow."

Sasuke smiled and made a resolution that he was going to see her smile again.

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><p>Sasuke was a few feet away from home; he looked up at the sky, and said, "There must be a storm tonight."<p>

He walked into his compound and looked around, no one was outside. He felt like there was something wrong. He immediately ran into his house and opened the door.

"Mom! Dad? Itachi?" he called out.

No reply.

"Mom?" He yelled, "Dad?"... "Itachi?"

More silence.

He went inside and was shocked to find his mother and father in a pool of blood, lifeless.

He kneeled down and stared at the terrifying spectacle. "No!" Sasuke cried, "This must be a dream! It can't be!" He felt the tears coming out of his eyes non-stop.

"But it is, little brother," said a voice from behind.

Sasuke turned around and looked at Itachi, who had a murderous smirk on his face. "Wha—what happened to mother and father?" his voice shook as he asked.

Itachi knelt down to go eye to eye with his little brother, "Isn't it obvious? I killed them."

Sasuke couldn't believe it, "But why?"

"The power." He said, "I needed to see if I had the power."

Sasuke didn't respond. He stood up.

"Look at my eyes, little brother." Itachi commanded.

Sasuke looked at his eyes; they were blood-red and had triangular-like fans. "The sharingan." He said.

"The mangekyo sharingan," he stated, "when you have eyes like mine, come and face me."

Sasuke was shaking, he was terrified.

"You value your life too much little brother!" Itachi exclaimed, "Now, run, if you value your life!"

Sasuke didn't need another word; he rushed out of his house, out of the compound and sat on the road. He was still sobbing and shaking.

He lied on the side on the road and wept.

_I couldn't save them…I couldn't…_

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><p>The next morning, Sasuke woke up in a white bed surrounded by white curtains.<p>

He heard two women talking from the other side, "did you hear? This kid's the only one left." One of them said.

"Yes," the other said, "poor little thing."

Sasuke peeked out of the curtain and saw that there were two nurses.

"I heard Itachi Uchiha killed them," the first one said.

"No way!" the other one said, "Itachi would never do something like that!"

"Are you a fan-girl, Yumi?" the first one asked.

"Maybe."

"I feel bad for this kid, though. He's all alone now..."

_All alone now._

_All alone._

_All alone._

_Alone._

Sasuke slipped out of the hospital unnoticed and walked to his compound. He showed no hint of emotion on his face.

The villagers who saw him whispered, and had a piteous expression on their faces.

He looked into his compound and saw that it was surrounded by a yellow tape. He crawled under it and tried to imagine everyone who was in it.

Everyone who became a part of his family.

Everyone who was now gone, dead—because of Itachi.

"Itachi," he growled, "just you wait."

* * *

><p>He was led into a new house—apartment where he would live in.<p>

He still would take classes at the academy, and he acted so much cooler (and emo), that's why all the girls are like, head-over-heels in love with him.

But frankly, now, that annoyed the living hell out of a certain pink-haired classmate. She made the resolution not to talk to this boy anymore.

He's training harder to get where Itachi is.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura: Teammates**

_"...you will be divided into teams..."_

_"...Naruto Uzumaki...Sakura Haruno...Sasuke Uchiha..."_

_"...I don't think anybody has to feel alone..."_

_"...what are you doing, Naruto?..."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>CHAPTER THREE: REVISED!<em>**


	4. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura: Teammates!

**Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura: Teammates!**

**Disclaimer:**_**I DON'T own Naruto, I wish I did though. :)**_

* * *

><p><em>This is it.<em>

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed youngster Naruto Uzumaki was happily sauntering over to the ninja academy.

Today was the day that the graduating genin would be assigned to their designated team as well as a short preamble about what's gonna happen once they're genin.

Looking up at the sky, he positioned his hands on the back of his head; he thought about how he felt when he had received the forehead protector from his sensei, Iruka...

_After successfully retrieving the stolen scroll from Mizuki, and Naruto performing the shadow clone jutsu in front of his own eyes, Iruka couldn't be more proud of the (now genin) knucklehead ninja._

"_Close your eyes, Naruto," Iruka told him, "I have a surprise for you." _

_Naruto obeyed, asking, "Really, sensei? What is it? Is it ramen?"_

"_No, Naruto, I think this surprise is even better than ramen."_

"_Better than ramen?" Naruto asked, still closing his eyes, "What could be better than ramen?" _

"_You'll see," replied Iruka. You could hear the smile in his voice as he untied his headband from his own forehead._

"_Congratulations, Naruto," he said while tying the headband around Naruto's forehead._

_Naruto opened his eyes and attempted to glance at his forehead. "Wait—what?"_

"_You've successfully graduated from the academy," Iruka confirmed, "You're a full-pledged genin now."_

_Naruto looked confused, "I'm a genin?"_

_3..._

_2..._

_1..._

"_I'm a genin!" Naruto yelled out, grinning widely. He then started dancing around in circles in triumph. "I'm a genin! Alright! I graduated, believe it!"_

Naruto couldn't help but beam at the memory.

He entered his class and before he could take a step in, he heard "Sasuke-kun! I love you!" coming from different directions.

Instantly, he spotted who they were referring to, his face scrunched up in disgust.

Sasuke Uchiha. Raven-haired, onyx-eyed classmate who held the highest scores in class.

Naruto never hid his distaste for the Uchiha.

_I really don't know what girls see in that guy. Who does he think he is? Acting all cool and calm like that? Pssh. I can soooo beat him. _

His eyes then lingered away from his so-called 'rival' and onto the object of his affections. Sakura Haruno.

I think you know her. Unique silky, pink hair? And dazzling emerald eyes? Not to mention the top kunoichi in their class, right next to Sasuke.

Why did Naruto have a crush on her? Well, I'll tell you his reason is a bit less shallow than the others who only go after her for her looks.

You see, this happened three days ago...

_Naruto was swerving himself on the swing that was dangling through the aid of two sturdy trees. _

_He glimpsed at the academy entrance, watching as dozens of eager parents congratulate their child for graduating and becoming a certified genin. _

_Naruto had failed. This was his third year and third try, and he failed. Again. Clearly, the thought enough was incredibly depressing. _

_But another thing just had to barge in and (if possible) upset him even more._

"_Look at that boy," he heard one villager say to another, "it's a good thing he didn't pass. Doesn't he know it would be a danger to the village?"_

_After hearing _that, _could you blame yourself for moping? _

_Coincidently, Sakura was walking home right about that time. She was absolutely proud of herself for being able to graduate the academy on her first try. She was second rank in class too, right next to Sasuke Uchiha. _

_She spotted Naruto sitting on the swing all by himself. The boy hung his head in dismay, she immediately deciphered that he wasn't able to graduate from the academy. _

_Without thinking, she decided to approach the boy in an attempt to comfort him. _

_She didn't really remember how to socialize; her first priority was to train so that someday she'd be able to find her brother. But, this was worth a shot…_

"_Hi there," she quietly said._

_Naruto hesitantly turned to her and was surprised that someone actually approached him._

"_You're Naruto, right?" she asked him. "I'm Sakura Haruno," she added, "your classmate from the academy?" The statement sounded more like a question._

"_Yeah, I know you," Naruto simply stated, "The question is, why are you wasting your time here with me when you should be staying with your family?" he asked, his voice quite cold._

_Sakura looked at the ground and let her bangs cover her eyes. "Um…" she wasn't sure if she should tell him, "I don't…have a family, Naruto."_

_Naruto looked at her in surprise. He wasn't the only one alone. "Oh, um…I'm sorry." He tried to apologize._

"_No need for that," she said with a faint smile, "are you okay?"_

_In reply, Naruto fixed his gaze to the families near the entrance._

"_Makes you a little jealous, huh?" she asked him, her face contemplative._

"_Y-yeah," he answered, "a little."_

"_Well, Naruto," she said holding her hand up for him to hold, "I don't believe anyone should ever have the need to feel alone."_

_Naruto hesitated a little, but held her hand in the end. When he held it, he felt comfort, security, as if he didn't want to let go._

_She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but blush._

"_Oh my," she said, "I've got to go." She took her hand back. "See you tomorrow, Naruto! It was very nice to meet you!" she yelled while running off home._

_Naruto grinned as his face turned pink. He had found someone to care for him, and he was happy for that. "Thank you," he yelled, "I wish you can hear me! Thank you!"_

He didn't think he would have the chance to see her again...

...until he was actually able to graduate.

"Hey," he heard a lazy voice say.

He looked to his side and saw that it was Shikamaru Nara, the most indolent kid in class. Naruto was surprised that he even passed.

"You talking to me?" Naruto asked as he pointed to himself.

"This class is only for the people who graduated, you know?" he told him.

"I know," Naruto said as he pointed to his forehead protector, "see?"

Shikamaru looked surprised but didn't say another word. He did mutter, "How troublesome…" when Naruto walked away.

Naruto gave a minor blush as he took the seat beside Sakura.

She didn't notice him however, because she was too preoccupied reading a book.

Naruto, satisfied with his seating, placed his arms on the table and laid his chin on it. He planned to rest for a while.

"I was here first, Ino!" he heard someone yell.

He turned to the doorway and saw Ino Yamanaka and Karin Sumoshi fighting over who entered the room first.

"No way, Karin!" Ino said, "I was here first, so I get to sit beside Sasuke-kun!"

"Hey, I was here before the two of you! So I better sit beside Sasuke-kun!" said another girl, currently joining the cat-fight over the seat next to Sasuke.

_What's so special about that guy anyway?_Naruto thought over as he made his way to the front of Sasuke's desk

Crouched atop Sasuke's desk, Naruto glared at the Uchiha. Sasuke glared back. And they were caught in a staring contest, their faces were only inches apart.

Wrong move, you two.

Apparently, the boy sitting in front of Sasuke decided to place his arm on the desk behind him. This knocked Naruto into Sasuke instantly.

But what's this?

Only their lips were touching?

The two immediately separated from each other and spewed out their saliva, trying to get the 'cooties' out of their mouths as much as possible.

The expected reaction was laughter and mocking, but Naruto found Sasuke's fan-girls glaring daggers at him.

"Sasuke's first kiss was supposed to be _me__!_" one of the fan-girls said.

Naruto swiftly moved away and took his previous seat next to Sakura. He pouted and crossed his arms.

Their teacher entered the classroom which left the students scrambling to their seats. Ino Yamanaka ended up having the seat next to him.

Sakura has now put the book down and is looking straight ahead to their teacher.

"Okay students, you will be divided into teams consisting of three members each to officially obtain your rank as genin," Iruka stated.

_Teammates will only bring me down,_Sasuke thought, glaring for no reason.

_I want to be with Sakura, _Naruto thought dreamily.

"I wanna be on Sasuke-kun's team!" almost every girl cried out.

"I will now read your team numbers and team members," he said.

Everybody quieted down.

Naruto didn't pay attention until he heard his name called.

"Team Seven," Iruka started, "Naruto Uzumaki…"

Naruto looked up, _okay, come on, come on._

"…Sasuke Uchiha…" Iruka said.

Naruto and Sasuke's heads shot up, their eyes wide. They glared at each other.

"…and Sakura Haruno." Iruka finished.

Naruto raised his hands up in the air and yelled, "yeah!"

Sasuke only raised an eyebrow. _Sakura...Haruno? The top kunoichi? _

Sakura didn't show any emotion on her face. In sooth, she didn't know whether to be happy, sad, or irritated, or something!

"Ugh," Naruto complained, "why do I have to be with that teme?"

"Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura have the best scores in the class," Iruka reasoned, "you have the worst scores. I put them to balance you out."

"Why does she have to be with Sasuke-kun?" Sakura heard all the girls complain, "She doesn't even like him!"

Iruka just shook it off and said, "I'll continue reading the names."

Ino Yamanaka looked back and saw Shikamaru Nara yawn. She twitched, "I'd hate to be on your team, Nara."

"Team 8," Iruka read, "Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga."

"Team 10," Iruka said, "Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi."

"I'm with fatty too?" Ino exclaimed.

"What did you say about hating to be on my team?" Shikamaru teased her.

Iruka continued reading all the names. He gave a brief introduction to being a genin and dismissed them.

"All right," Naruto said, "I'm with Sakura-chan!" He looked to his left, where Sakura was supposed to be seated, but she was already gone. "She left already?" Naruto cried.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was leaning on the balcony of his apartment, eating a rice ball.<p>

Naruto 'entered' Sasuke's house through the window and closed it.

Little did Naruro know that Ino was watching from afar. "That brat better not hurt my Sasuke-kun!" she said. She felt relief when she saw Sasuke come out of the window and leap away.

Sakura was sitting on a bench beside her favorite cherry blossom tree, eating her packed lunch.

She sensed chakra nearby and looked up. She saw Sasuke Uchiha leaning on a tree looking right at her.

"Hey," he said.

Sakura never really talked to him, or heard his voice before so she didn't know if she should respond.

He was walking closer and she felt like there was something wrong. _This chakra,_she thought, _it feels really familiar—Naruto?_

"So…" 'Sasuke' said, "we're teammates, huh?"

"Yup," she responded. _Well it was true._

"I just want to know what you think about Naruto," he said.

"Don't you mean what I think about you?" she coyly stated.

"What are you talking about?"

"Naruto," she said, "don't think such a thing like this can fool me."

'Sasuke' was immediately covered in a puff of smoke and turned into Naruto. "What gave me away?" Naruto asked as he scratched his head.

"Your chakra signature." She replied.

"No way!" he exclaimed, "you can sense my chakra like that? That amazing! Really ama—" He heard a deep rumbling sound come from the pit of his stomach. _Oh no,_he thought, _I need to go to the bathroom._

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he was jumping away, "I have to go now."

He left Sakura with a confused expression on her face.

At that moment, the real Sasuke was walking past her. To her surprise, he stopped and looked at her. He nodded her way and she just stared at him in confusion. _So she's really not a fangirl,_he thought.

He turned to walk away only to hear her ask him, "Is there any reason why Naruto came here disguised as you?"

He looked at her, "How did you know?"

"His chakra was way different from yours." She simply stated.

"You can sense a person by their chakra?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she answered.

There was an awkward silence until Sakura stood up and said, "Well, I got to go now." She walked pass him, "see you tomorrow, teammate."

Sasuke couldn't swallow it, _teammate._He needed to get to know her more personally.

For the moment, he just shook it off and walked away.

He'd just need to prepare for tomorrow, when they'd get acquainted to meet their squad leader.

_Pretty interesting teammates I've got here…_

* * *

><p><strong>NEXT:<strong>**Pass or Fail: Survival Test!**

_"...my first impression is, I hate all of you..."_

_"...if you fail, you can never become a ninja..."_

_"...i'm not backing out, believe it..."_

_"...Sakura, help me..."_

_"...that's impossible, genins can't perform fire jutsus..."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>CHAPTER FOUR: REVISED!<em>**


	5. Pass or Fail: Survival Test!

**Pass or Fail: Survival Test!**

**Disclaimer:**_**Getting kinda tired of this...I DO NOT own Naruto...**_

* * *

><p>Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were currently waiting in the classroom where they were supposedly meeting their Jounin squad leader.<p>

"Arrgh!" Naruto cried out in frustration, "What's taking him so long?"

Sasuke was sitting on one of the desks with his hands clasped in front of his face. He did nothing but scoff at his blonde _teammate._

Sakura didn't make even the slightest reaction. She just sat there with a bored, blank expression on her face.

Naruto suddenly cried out again, "The other teams probably met their senseis right now, and they're already beginning training! While we're just here, sitting and waiting for ours to show up!" He threw his hands up in the air to emphasize his aggravation.

He looked at his two teammates who just sat there. "It feels like I'm not even talking to anyone," he mumbled, loud enough for Sasuke and Sakura to hear.

Sakura sighed, "Well, your complaining _is_getting annoying."

Sasuke smirked at her comment.

Naruto grinned apologetically at his pink-haired teammate.

Out of the blue, Naruto had a sly smile on his face and chuckled.

"Let's play a little trick on our _sensei,_" he said to himself, grabbing a chair and an eraser—full of chalk dust—from the board, and ever so carefully placed it in between the door and the wall, making sure that when the door opens, it would hit their victim.

"Tch, dobe. That guy's a jounin, there's no way he'd fall for that." Sasuke implied stoically.

"Oh yeah, _teme_?" he glared at the Uchiha, who only glared harder at the blonde.

Sakura sighed. _Is it always gonna be like this?_She thought.

It was not long before they heard footsteps coming from the hall, and Naruto innocently took a seat, trying to suppress a chuckle.

Sasuke and Sakura watched the door in anticipation, eager to see how their new sensei handles this.

After a few seconds, a man white silver-white hair slid the door open and stepped in, causing the eraser to fall on his head.

Naruto laughed his head off, while Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped.

_He let something like_that _hit him? There's no way this guy could be a jounin._Sasuke thought.

_He actually fell for that? _Sakura was flabbergasted.

He stepped inside and peered at his new students through his eye—yes, eye, since the other one is covered by his ninja headband—and said, "Okay, so my first impression of this group is…

_Here it comes..._

"...I hate all of you."

All three sweat-dropped.

"Meet me up on the rooftop in two minutes," he said, before he left in a puff of smoke.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to process what the jounin had said, until Naruto cackled once more.

"Hahaha! He fell for it! Pssh, I could take this guy!" he said in between guffaws.

Sasuke and Sakura—again—sweat-dropped.

* * *

><p>The three were sitting on the roof. Naruto in the middle, Sakura on his left, Sasuke on his right.<p>

"Alright, why don't you guys tell me a little about yourselves?" their Jounin leader told them.

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"You know…your name, things you like and things you hate, hobbies, and dreams for the future…those kind of stuff…"he said, his voice seemed unsure.

The three just stared at him blankly. He sweat-dropped, "Alright, alright. I'll start."

He sat down on the railing and eyed his students, "My name is Kakashi Hatake, things I like and things I hate…don't really feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future…never really thought about it. And my hobbies…I have lots of hobbies…"

Naruto and Sakura sweatdropped.

"All he really told us was his name…" Naruto said out loud and Sakura said it in her mind.

"Okay," Kakashi said, "you first." He said pointing at Naruto.

"Who me?" Naruto asked, Kakashi nodded.

"Well," he said, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, I like instant ramen in a cup, I hate the three minutes you have to wait for the ramen to cook, and my dream is…" He raised his fist in the air, "…to be the HOKAGE! Then the whole village would stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"

"Alright, _pinky,_" he saw the girl twitch. "You're next."

She sighed. "I'm Sakura Haruno, I never really thought about things I like and things I hate, and my dreams are to learn my bloodline and...um...find someone..."

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto asked, curious, "what _is_your clan's trait?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond but Kakashi cut her off, "save this for when you guys _bond._" He turned to look at Sasuke, "You. Your turn."

The said boy just directed his gaze to his front, "My name's Sasuke Uchiha, I hate _a lot of things _and I don't particularly like _anything. _I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."

Naruto was cringing at Sasuke's last few words. _Gosh, I hope the teme doesn't mean me..._

"Okay…meet me tomorrow for your genin qualification test." Kakashi said.

This made the three of them stare weirdly at their sensei.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"But sensei," Naruto said, "we're already genin! We passed in the academy."

"Yes…but to make it into _my_team, you have to go through a survival exercise. You have a sixty-six percent chance of failing by the way, and if you do, you get sent back to the academy."

"No way!" Naruto shrieked.

_Can he actually do that?_Sakura thought. _I've made it this far, I can't lose now._

_Hmph. Piece of cake. I could take this guy._Sasuke thought_—a little cocky, no?_

"Well, then," Kakashi continued, "meet me tomorrow at the training grounds at seven. Oh, and don't eat breakfast."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Because if you do," he said, "you'll puke."

Naruto cringed again.

* * *

><p>Sakura sauntered to the training grounds the very next morning. She saw Naruto come out of his apartment and he, in turn, saw her.<p>

Naruto waved, "hey Sakura-chan!"

"Good morning, Naruto." Sakura said.

Naruto fiddled with his fingers a bit and had a light blush on his face, "So...uh…do you want to—ahem—you know? Hehe…walk….to there…you know?"

Sakura just looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I guess what I'm saying is," Naruto said, turning red, "let's walk to the training grounds together."

"That's it?" Sakura asked.

"Well…yeah…" Naruto said, "Unless you don't want to go, it's okay, I mean it's fine and I can go there alone but you know…"

Naruto kept babbling on and on like an idiot until Sakura said, "Sure, Naruto."

Naruto cut himself from blabbering; "really?" he had a huge smile on his face.

"Yup," she said, already walking away, "let's go."

"O-o-okay," he said as he paced with her, "Wait! Wait for me!" he said running towards her.

When they got there, Sasuke was already waiting, sitting next to a tree.

All they had to do was wait for their sensei...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

They waited there for what seemed like hours.

"What's taking him so long?" Naruto finally cried out, snapping Sasuke and Sakura out of their reverie.

At that moment, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto was irritated, "you're late!" he cried out.

"Sorry," he said, "there was this lady carrying the groceries and I decided to—"

"Whatever," Naruto said, "can we start now?"

"Impatient little mongrel," he grumbled. Kakashi took out an alarm clock and two bells. "The test is simple," he said, "all you have to do is take these bells from me."

"Sensei," Sakura said, "there are only two bells."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Oh right," he said, "here's the fun part, no matter what, I get to fail _one_of you." He heard Naruto gulp. "The two that pass get to receive lunch, the one who doesn't will get tied to the post and will watch us eat, that one will also get sent back to the academy. Any questions?"

The three ninjas shook their heads and stood up, readying themselves.

"Good," he said, "now begin."

The minute he said those words, Sasuke and Sakura were gone in a flash, each trying to find a good hiding spot from their teacher.

_I can sense Sasuke's charka somewhere from the trees._Kakashi thought. _Sakura…hmm…I can't really sense it. Is she so good with chakra control that she can hide it? Well, each of them found a proficient hiding place...unlike..._

Naruto, however, stood there, out in the open.

"Why aren't you hiding like the others?" Kakashi asked him.

Naruto grinned and flashed a thumbs-up, "I'm the kind of ninja who would face these kinds of battles head-on! Believe it!"

"More like the kind of ninja who are stupid enough to show himself to the enemy," their teacher grumbled.

"What was that?" Naruto asked from three feet away.

"No-nothing!" said Kakashi, as he placed his hand in his pocket, "Let's see what you've got, Naruto."

_Oh no._Naruto thought. _He's going to get something dangerous from his pocket, what is it? A bomb, a weapon?_

Kakashi pulled out…a small, orange book?

Naruto sweatdropped. "Hey," Naruto said, "if you're gonna read, do it on your own time! We're in a battle here, mister!"

From the bushes, Sakura was watching the battle silently, careful to hide her chakra so her sensei won't find her. _A book? This guy is obviously not taking this seriously. Well, I better keep quiet; I want to learn from this battle…_

"Why?" Kakashi asked, turning a page, "Am I not allowed to read while you fight me? Are there any rules?"

"N-no," Naruto replied.

"Then show me what you've got, kid." He said, barely paying attention to him at all.

"Alright!" Naruto yelled, "You asked for it!"

Naruto got in position, made hand-signs, and said, "Shadow-clone jutsu!" In a second, three—no, six clones of Naruto came out and charged at Kakashi.

Sakura was impressed. _They're not just clones! They're real._

Sasuke was watching from the tree he was sitting in, just waiting for the battle to end so he could try his hand with their teacher. _Hmph. Shadow clones._He suddenly thought, _I wonder where Sakura is. Is she planning to ambush him or something?_

Sakura and Sasuke watched as Kakashi single-handedly defeated all those clones. This left Naruto panting from exhaustion.

Naruto approached Kakashi who he thought was currently being held on by his clones. When he reached the area though, he found out, it was just a log!

_Substitution._Sakura and Sasuke thought.

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled, "Where are you?" Naruto looked around, frantically searching.

He stopped turning only to find that their sensei was behind him. "Never let your enemy get behind you," Kakashi said to him.

Naruto was too shocked to move as Kakashi made a hand-sign.

Sasuke recognized it almost immediately. _The tiger sign! That's for a fire jutsu! Naruto better get out of there or he'll be killed._

Kakashi crouched down and…"Leaf village secret finger jutsu: a thousand years of death!" he yelled as he jabbed his two index fingers into Naruto's—dare I say it?—ass!

This left Naruto flying, only to land into the lake next to them.

Sakura was doing some hard thinking, _I don't get it. He knows that we can't take him alone. We are all just genin and he's a jounin! I can't find out the true objective of this!_

Naruto stepped out of the lake, dripping wet, when something caught his eye. _One of the bells!_He thought happily. He saw a bell on the bottom of a tree. "Sensei must've dropped it…well, that's good news for me." He said to himself.

But, as he reached down to grab it. A rope had hauled him upside down, and left him hanging from a tree.

"Never thought you would be this gullible, Naruto," Kakashi said, "don't you know an obvious trap when you've seen one? I mean come on! I'm not such a giveaway, you know!"

While Kakashi scolded Naruto, Sasuke thought this was his chance! He threw a shuriken Kakashi's way who immediately dodged it.

_I gave away my position, there's no use to hiding now!_Sasuke thought as he jumped out of his hiding spot to face his sensei.

_Sasuke?_Sakura thought. _He's going to fight too? Then I have to act now. Wait—no! I have to find out his true objective! Ugh! Think, Sakura think! How could three genin beat a fully-grown jounin?_

Sasuke came close and tried to land a kick onto Kakashi's waist, but he caught it smoothly. He also tried to punch his teacher, but that too, was caught. Kakashi threw Sasuke off him and stood there.

Sasuke smirked. He did the corresponding hand signs, and said, "Fire style: fireball jutsu!" A strong blast of flames came out of his mouth, aiming at Kakashi. But, alas, Kakashi dodged that too…

"Impossible!" Kakashi said, mouth agape, "Genins can't use fire jutsus! They waste too much chakra!"

While Kakashi was momentarily distracted, Sasuke took a dive for the bells…

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**You Failed! Kakashi's Final Decision**

_"...Sa...ku...ra...help...me.."_

_"...we need to work together..."_

_"...you will be dropped from the program, permanently..."_

_"...the three of us are one..."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER FIVE: REVISED! <strong>_

_**HUGE THANK YOU TO: **__**Onion Bay.**__** :)**_


	6. You Failed! Kakashi's Final Decision

**You Failed! Kakashi's Final Decision**

**Disclaimer:**_**I do NOT own Naruto, I do NOT own Naruto, I do NOT own Naruto!**_

* * *

><p>"Impossible!" Kakashi said, mouth agape, "Genins can't use fire jutsus! They waste too much chakra!"<p>

While Kakashi was momentarily distracted, Sasuke took a dive for the bells. This—Kakashi noticed, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ugh!" Sasuke said, "Where is he now?"

He didn't have time to react when he found his body being dragged underground. Well, almost his whole body...his head was still above the ground.

"Don't be so cocky next time," Kakashi said to him. "...now to find Sakura."

_Sakura, speaking of her, I haven't seen her throughout the test. Where is she?_Sasuke thought. He struggled to get out, but couldn't. Guess he'd have to wait there for a while.

Kakashi looked around and detected Sakura's chakra from behind the bushes. Barely detectable, but is able to be detected at a close distance.

_He seems to be looking for me._Sakura thought. _Maybe I could—_

She was cut off when she heard her sensei say, "Psst, Sakura."

Sakura turned around but then didn't see anyone, and when she looked forward, there was 'Sasuke' beaten up into a bloody pulp.

"Sa…ku..ra…help…me…" 'he' said.

Sakura didn't move. _That cannot be Sasuke._She thought. _I feel the chakra all around me, how can it-Oh!_Sakura came into a realization. _Gen-jutsu!_

"Kai!" Sakura said. The illusion before her disappeared. "You've got to try better than _that_Kakashi-sensei! Oh, and sneaking up from behind me won't work either."

Kakashi wasn't at all surprised that she detected him, "Impressive Sakura."He then tried to jump Sakura, in an attempt to catch her.

But Sakura's instincts were sharp. She immediately knew what to do and...

Kakashi found himself hugging something solid and coarse. _Am I hugging a log? _Kakashi thought to himself. And sure enough, there he was..._molesting a log. _

"Substitution," Kakashi supposed, "Way to think on your feet."

_Think quickly, Sakura. What is the objective of this exercise?_Sakura thought to herself. _He knows we can't stand a chance alone. Alone! That's it! If by chance, we work together, maybe—just maybe—we could beat him!_

Sakura saw a clearing nearby. _First, I got to find Sasuke and Naruto._

Sakura ran out of the bushes, where, she saw Sasuke struggling to get out of the hole he was forced into.

Sasuke noticed her and just stared at her, thinking of what she would do.

"You need any help?" Sakura asked.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, looking down. _Uchihas don't _need _help, we simply _aid _for assistance..._

_A man of a few words, I see._She thought as she sweat-dropped.

"Hold on." Sakura told him as she performed some hand signs and gently slammed her palms onto the ground.

The hole gently 'spit' Sasuke out. Sasuke was flung into the air, but he caught his ground and landed charmingly beside Sakura.

He nodded her way. (Which obviously meant 'thank you') And was about to take his leave.

"Wait, Sasuke." Sakura said.

He stopped.

"Sasuke, did you notice anything _funny _about this exercise?"

Sasuke arched one eyebrow, "What do you mean by '_funny'_?"

"Isn't kind of obvious that a genin can't beat a jounin?"

"Are you implying that I'm weak?"

"No, of course not." Sakura answered, "It's just that, no matter how strong a genin is, if he's put up against a jounin, then the odds are against him."

Sasuke was starting to grasp the logic, "Right, so that means we can't face him alone."

"Exactly."

"You want us to work together?" Sasuke asked.

"We _need to_work together—with Naruto, too," Sakura replied.

"And _why_would I do that?" he asked, almost defensively.

"What do you mean? You already agreed that we had to work together, right?"

"I mean, why do we have to work with the dobe?" He corrected, "I mean, I can put up with you but I won't put up with that idiot."

"Come on, Sasuke," She pressed, "Naruto's our teammate too."

"Hn, fine."

"Really?"

"Hn."

They were going to look for Naruto when all of a sudden the alarm clock rang.

"We wasted too much time," Sasuke said. Sakura nodded in agreement.

They had no choice but to make it back to the posts and were surprised (well, not really) to find Naruto already tied to one.

The two of them blinked twice. "What happened to you?" Sakura finally asked.

Naruto laughed nervously…

"_Heh heh heh, Kakashi sensei said that if we fail, we don't get to eat lunch."_ _Naruto chuckled to himself. "Well, if I eat lunch now, it won't matter anymore, won't it?"_

_But as Naruto prepared the chopsticks for his meal..._

"_Naruto," he heard his teacher's bittersweet voice from behind. _

"_Yes, sensei?" Naruto asked tensely. _

"_What are you doing?" Kakashi asked wickedly. _

"_No-no-nothing!" Naruto desperately tried to hide the bento box behind him. "Do you think I'm hiding something? Psssshhhh….psssshhhhhh…."_

_And Kakashi grabbed him and tied him to a pole._

"_As punishment, you won't get to eat lunch with us at all." Kakashi told him, evilly._

Naruto nervously chuckled at his two teammates when he told him the story.

Sasuke smirked, "Why are you such a loser?"

Sakura sweatdropped, "You just _love _getting into trouble, don't you?"

"So," Naruto said, trying to change the topic, "did you guys get the bells?"

At this question, Sasuke seemed irritated and says, "We would have gotten them if we didn't need to find you."

"Why were you guys going to find me?" Naruto asked.

Before Sasuke could respond, Sakura said, "The true objective of this exercise must have been for us to work together. If you think about it, no genin could ever beat a jounin all by himself; the odds are against it."

"But, Sakura," Naruto countered, "there were only two bells."

Sasuke cut in when Sakura didn't answer, "Probably to pin us against each other."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke in realization, "Oh. That seems...plausible..."

Their talk was interrupted by clapping coming from their sensei, "Good job, you two," he said, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

"So?" Naruto asked, "They _did_figure it out right?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, but a little too late."

Sasuke was so annoyed that he tried to attack Kakashi again.

Kakashi blocked him, kicked Sasuke in the stomach, and landed him face down on the ground. He pulled his head up, and positioned a kunai under Sasuke's throat.

"Wait—Kakashi-sensei! That's too far!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Sakura," Kakashi said, ignoring Naruto, "kill Naruto or else I'll kill Sasuke."

Naruto panicked while Sakura stayed stoic.

"What would you do?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura shrugged but said, "I guess I'd have to find a way to save both."

_Smart answer. _Kakashi thought as he released Sasuke.

Sasuke only sat down on the ground and glared.

"So," Naruto said, "what happens now?"

"You all failed," Kakashi said.

Naruto felt tears coming out of his eyes, "Kakashi-sensei! Please give us another chance! Sakura found out the secret task, right? Come on! Pleaaaaaaasee!"

Kakashi thought for a while, "Very well."

He gave Sasuke and Sakura the two lunches. "You can eat a little to regain your strength," Kakashi said, "_but_none of you are to feed Naruto, do I make myself clear?"

Sasuke and Sakura half-heartedly nodded.

Kakashi was gone in a flash.

As Sasuke had already devoured half of his lunch, he heard Naruto's stomach grumble—loudly.

Sakura just _had to_jump at the noise.

"Eh heh heh," Naruto said, "Sorry! Just go on!"

Sasuke looked at his food then at Naruto, he then offered him the food and said, "Here."

Sakura looked at him in puzzlement, and then comprehension.

"Bu-but teme," Naruto began.

"Tch. Just eat it," Sasuke said, "If you don't, you'd be hungry and useless for the training later."

Sakura looked around and didn't see Kakashi anywhere. "No Sasuke," she said.

Sasuke looked at her in confusion.

Sakura showed him her lunch which was more than half-full. "You need your strength so you've got to eat up," she said, "I'll give Naruto my lunch."

Sasuke asked her, "What about you?"

"Well," Sakura replied, "I'm not _that_hungry anyways and I'm a little used to it."

Sasuke wasn't sure if he should agree since he was a _little_worried about her.

"Sa-sakura?" Naruto said as Sakura looked at him, "Th-thank you!"

Sakura held out her lunch for Naruto to eat.

"Uh," Naruto struggled from the ropes, "I can't…"

"What do you mean you can't?" Sakura asked, "Just eat it."

"No," Naruto struggled more with the ropes, "I _really_can't."

Sakura finally understood.

"You're gonna have to…" Naruto couldn't help but blush, "…feed me."

Sakura blinked twice and looked down, "alright."

Naruto blushed pink as he opened his mouth wide so Sakura could place the food into it.

As soon as she did, though, thunder rumbled from the sky and strong winds blew onto them.

"What have you done?" Kakashi yelled, "You have disobeyed me!"

His students didn't seem afraid. (Uh...exclude Naruto...that boy almost peed in his pants!)

"We fed Naruto," Sasuke replied, bravely, "we couldn't just let him starve during the test otherwise he would have been useless."

"Don't punish Sasuke or Sakura, Kakashi-sensei! They were only doing what's best for the team!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura nodded and backed them up, "We helped him because the three of us are one!"

"The three of you are _one_?" Kakashi mimicked, "well, I've got only _one_thing to say to that."

"You...PASS!"

"What?" Naruto asked, his eyes as huge as dinner plates, his jaw dropping on the ground.

Sakura's eyes were wide.

And Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

The weather seemed to go back to its original state as Kakashi said, "They say that those who don't follow the rules are scum…but those who abandon their teammates for the sake of the rules are worse than scum."

He eyed his three students respectively, "always remember that."

The three nodded in recognition and Naruto yelled, "Alright! We did it! We did it! We passed!" Did I mention that he was still tied to the post? (O_O')

"Well, let's head on home...missions begin tomorrow." Kakashi said as he pulled out his book from his pocket. He disappeared in a 'poof' of smoke seconds later.

Sasuke and Sakura stood up and walked away.

...

"Are we forgetting something?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

...

"I don't know." He replied.

...

And they kept walking away.

...

"Hey!" Naruto cried out to them, "Can someone _please _untie me?"

No response.

"Hello? All tied up over here!"

No response.

"You guys!" Naruto tried again, "Help me!"

No response.

"ARRGH!" Naruto cried in frustration.

...

"Guess I'm gonna have to get out of here alone." He said as he sweatdropped. (T-T)

_Aww, poor Naruto._

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**A Dangerous Mission! Journey to the Land of Waves!**

_"...arrrghhh, stupid cat..."_

_"...Kakashi-sensei...!"_

_"...you're not hurt are you, scaredy-cat...?"_

_"...we have to go back..."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER SIX: REVISED! :)<strong>_

_**A BIG THANK YOU TO**__**MissAnimeFreakXD**__**! YOU ROCK! :))**_


	7. Mission: Journey to the Land of Waves!

**A Dangerous Mission: Journey to the Land of Waves**

**Disclaimer:**_**I do NOT own Naruto...:P**_

* * *

><p>"We've got target in sight," Sakura said through her headpiece.<p>

"Good," Kakashi replied, "proceed as planned."

"Okay," said Naruto.

"Right," said Sakura.

"Hn," said Sasuke.

The creature was like a blur as it passed by Naruto.

Naruto made a poor attempt to capture the feline, but it dashed up a tree with proficiency.

"Naruto," he heard Sakura say through his earpiece, "Can you _please _try climbing it?"

"Sure, Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied unsurely, "_Anything _for you!"

Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's eagerness to do anything for his so-called _'Sakura-chan'_.

"Something the matter, teme?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke pretended he didn't hear that.

Despite not knowing how to climb, Naruto was able to make it to the branch where the cat was.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty!" he cooed in a desperate attempt to woo the feline in to coming to him.

CRUNCH! (The branch broke. -_-')

"Ahhh!" (Naruto shrieked for his dear life.)

And...

BLAG! (Naruto fell face-first into the grassy floor.)

"A-are you okay, Naruto?" Sakura asked through the earpiece.

Still in a daze, Naruto replied, "Uh...yeah...don't worry...just...get the...cat..."

But there wasn't any need to.

Why?

Because the cat ever so slyly jumped into Sakura's arms.

"We've captured the target," Sasuke said into his microphone.

"Good," Kakashi said, "let's go. Uh...Naruto?"

"Yeah, just...stretching..." He told them.

Sakura carried the cat all the way back.

Earning it glares from Naruto and Sasuke.

As if it was trying to provoke the two boys, the cat purred and rubbed its ear on Sakura's chest.

"I'll get you you stupid, ugly thing!" Naruto blurted out, pointing violently at the cat.

The cat thrashed and growled at Naruto, but a few strokes from Sakura, it calmed down.

Naruto pouted and turned away mumbling, "Stupid cat...likes Sakura-chan..._my _Sakura-chan..."

Sasuke glared daggers at the cat the whole way back.

"Naruto, Sasuke, what have you got against the cat?" Sakura asked.

...

_Uh-oh._

* * *

><p>"Mission successful," Kakashi respectfully told the Hokage.<p>

"Good," said the Third, "So, your next one is...well, to tell you the truth, I've got a couple more D-ranks lined up for you, let's see…you can clean—"

"Uh uh! No waaay!" Naruto interrupted, shaking his head, "I don't want to clean anything! I don't want to do any gardening and stuff! And I definitely don't wanna do any more that involve _ugly _creatures like—like that!" He said that last part while pointing to the cat they had just saved.

"Hey!" said the woman, who was obviously the cat's owner, "She's not ugly! Aren't you little baby?" The cat meowed in response.

And they left the room.

"Anyways," Naruto complained, "This is baby stuff! I want a _real_mission!" He then turned around, placed his arms crossed on his chest, and pouted.

"Naruto—" Kakashi started.

"No, Kakashi," the Third cut him before he could scold Naruto, "Listen here, Naruto, if your teammates agree with you, I _promise _to give you a C-rank mission. How does that sound?"

"Yes!" Naruto said, triumphant, "do you guys mind?"

Sakura was the first to respond, "I don't really mind," she said, shrugging.

"Hn," Sasuke said—which Naruto took as a yes.

The Hokage shook his head, "Then, a promise is a promise," he mumbled. "Your mission is to escort this bridge builder back to his home."

At that moment, an old man carrying a huge beer bottle went inside.

"This is Tazuna," explained the Third, "your job is to make sure he gets to the Land of Waves safely."

Tazuna looked at the three kids in disgust, "I'm supposed to trust these three _brats_with my life? They're nothing but a bunch of snot-nosed kids!" He eyed the three genin, "especially the short, skimpy-looking one over there."

Naruto chuckled at this, "who's the short, skimpy one?"

Sasuke and Sakura sighed and went beside Naruto to do a height line up, this defined that...

...Naruto was the shortest among the three of them.

When Naruto realized this, he stopped chuckling and yelled at the bridge-builder, "Who are you calling _short_and _skimpy_?"

"Now, now, Naruto, let's respect our client." Kakashi told him.

"Respect the client _my butt_," Naruto muttered.

"Let's meet at the gate tomorrow at 6," Kakashi sweatdropped, "don't be late."

"As if we're the ones who're gonna be late," Sakura muttered.

Naruto chuckled softly and Sasuke smirked in agreement.

* * *

><p>"Where <em>are <em>they?" Naruto yelled in exasperation.

He, Sasuke, and Sakura were already at the gate, packed up and ready to go.

Sasuke was sitting on the ground, closing his eyes. (I think he was resting or something...)

Sakura was sitting beside Sasuke, watching the sunrise. She sighed and said, "It's already 6:30."

Naruto sat down beside Sakura, annoyance and frustration was written all over his face at the moment.

After another hour or so, they finally saw Kakashi with the bridge-builder walking towards them.

"Yo, did I miss anything?" their sensei asked.

"You're LATE!" Naruto hollered.

"Sorry," Kakashi reasoned, "this guy got lost and then I had to—"

"We don't wanna hear it!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh, well," Kakashi said turning towards the road, "let's get going."

Kakashi took the lead, Sakura was a little behind Naruto and Sasuke, making sure to keep Tazuna in her view.

They were walking for a few hours already when Sakura looked at Tazuna who looked exhausted and about ready to pass out.

Sakura sighed, "Kakashi-sensei," she said.

Kakashi, as well as Naruto and Sasuke looked at her.

"I think we should stop for a while," she said.

"_Why?_" he asked, "Are you tired already?"

"No," she replied stoically and she pointed her thumb to the bridge-builder.

The three men looked over to Tazuna who looked limp and was on the verge of falling over.

Kakashi sighed, "Let's take five."

They waited shortly and hit the road again.

A few minutes later, Sakura noticed a puddle and walked past it.

_Has it rained?_She thought and looked up at the sky. _Nope, this is suspicious. Should I tell Kakashi-sensei?_ She looked over at her teacher who was currently more vigilant now._Nope, he probably already noticed._

They were a good five feet away when the water from the puddle swished around violently, revealing for it to be two men tied together with chains.

The first man threw the chains at Kakashi who appeared to have gotten strangled into dust by the iron shackles.

...(readers trying to comprehend what just happened)...

In other words, team seven thought he got killed.

Tazuna and Naruto jumped at the shock. Sakura and Sasuke didn't move the slightest.

The two men threw a poisonous kunai at Tazuna which Sakura flawlessly blocked.

Sasuke jumped at the two men and knocked their heads together, then, threw a kunai which pinned the chains to one of the trunks of the trees.

Sasuke jumped in front of the bridge-builder and prepared to defend him.

Sakura took the chains and firmly tied the two ninjas with it.

Kakashi then appears out of nowhere and smiles (under his mask).

"Kakashi-sensei, you're…" Naruto said, confused, "…alive?"

Kakashi didn't respond and placed a hand on Sakura and Sasuke's heads, "Good job, the two of you."

Naruto felt disappointed at himself, _I was useless! Sasuke and Sakura were like, so cool, and I was just standing there like an idiot!_

Sasuke turned to Naruto, "Hey you're not hurt are you?" he teased, "_Scaredy-cat._"

Naruto got so irritated that he took out a kunai and punctured himself at the back of his hand. His teammates and the bridge-builder stared at him like he had grown two heads.

"I swear from now on, I won't stand back while everybody takes all the glory," Naruto said as the blood trickled from his hand, "I will fight and I won't let that _teme_beat me!"

Kakashi peered from behind Naruto, "Um...Naruto, that's all great and all but if you lose any more blood, you're gonna die."

Naruto panicked, running around and around

"Sakura," Kakashi said, "Can you bandage up Naruto's hand?" Kakashi tossed the bandages to Sakura.

"O-okay," Sakura replied, catching the bandages impeccably.

While Sakura was skilfully bandaging Naruto's hand, Naruto blushed at their close proximity.

When Sakura was finished, Naruto's face was beet red, "Thanks Sakura-chan!"

"No problem," Sakura said tossing the bandages back to their sensei, not completely understanding why Naruto was so red.

Sasuke glared at the blonde for reasons unknown to them. "Dobe," he muttered.

"Oh yeah...where _were_ you Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked remembering the battle that took place, "And why didn't you help us?"

The three walked up to the chains which Kakashi was 'killed' with. In exchange of Kakashi's body, there were logs.

"Oh! Substitution! Right? Right?" Naruto said.

Kakashi nodded and they circled Tazuna.

"I hung back a little because I wanted to see who they were after," Kakashi said, replying to Naruto's question. "I wanted to see if they were just some rogue ninja up for a challenge...or if they were after something or _someone _else. And from what I witnessed...

Tazuna cringed at Kakashi's tone.

"...they kept trying to get to you." Kakashi finished. "Would you like to tell us why?"

Earning no response from Tazuna, Kakashi said, "This mission was only a C-rank, meaning our job was just to protect you from robbers and highway men. If you mentioned that there would be ninjas hunting you down, this mission would be B-ranked at best."

Again, Tazuna didn't respond.

Kakashi sighed, "If you still don't plan on telling us why you failed to mention the ninja hunting you, we have no choice but to go back and leave you be."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura wanted to protest. But they thought it was best to keep quiet.

"Very well," said Kakashi as he was turning to leave, "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, let's go back."

The three ninjas didn't move.

"Now." Kakashi said, using a tone of superiority.

After cringing, the three—hesitantly—turned to their teacher but they heard Tazuna call out, "wait!"

All four heads turned to the bridge-builder.

"All right," Tazuna said, looking down, "I'll tell you guys…"

The four circled Tazuna, all anxious for the story.

_This has got to be good..._

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**Let's do this! The Power of Teamwork**

_"...it-it can't be...!"_

_"...we're not leaving you..."_

_"...I'll be taking him with me..."_

_"...Ka-Kakashi-sensei...!"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER SEVEN:REVISED! :)<strong>_

_**Special Thanks to**__**DarkShadowSakura**__**!:)**_


	8. Let's do This! The Power of Teamwork

**Let's do this! The Power of Teamwork**

**Disclaimer:**_**I DO NOT have the privilege of owning 'Naruto'...let's move on...**_

* * *

><p>"All right," Tazuna said, looking ashamed, "I'll tell you guys…"<p>

The four circled the bridge-builder, all anxious for the story.

"You see," Tazuna began, "the Land of Waves is a poor nation and as a result, does not have a hidden ninja village. It was an isolated island and prosperous until the country was taken over by Gato who monopolized the economy. Now all we have is suffering and despair."

With no reaction from any of the ninjas, he continued, "Many people think that it's just a bridge I'm building, but to me it's a sign of hope. Hope that maybe one day, when we finish the bridge, it would connect to the next nation and receive help for ourselves."

"But Gato sees it as a threat," Tazuna said with a glare, "he fears that maybe once the bridge is finished, we would overthrow him, and in result, not controlling the economy himself. He's a very greedy and selfish man who only thinks of himself, he never thought about the good of the nation."

Naruto looked annoyed and irritated; he was ready to smash something.

Sasuke had no reaction, but inside, he felt pity on the nation.

Sakura was listening intently, and looked to the ground in sympathy.

Kakashi cleared his throat before he said, "What we're doing is beyond the scope of this mission. If you can remember, these three are only Genin, who knows what we'd encounter. If we're not careful, this mission could cost us our lives."

Naruto stepped up, "Kakashi-sensei! They need our help! I'm not backing out, believe it!"

Kakashi wasn't surprised at Naruto's compassion, "I'm sorry Naruto, there's nothing I can do."

"Yes there is Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

Her teammates looked at her in surprise.

"I don't like the idea of these people suffering," she said, shaking her head, her face revealing no emotion, "If we could just continue this mission—"

"I'm sorry Sakura," Kakashi cut, "but there's really nothing—"

"Tch. Let's do this mission," said Sasuke with a stoic face.

Kakashi eyed Sasuke, "Are you serious, Sasuke?"

"Yeah...this is like the first exciting mission we'd ever had," he continued.

Sakura and Naruto still stared at Sasuke weirdly.

"Tch, did you guys think I was heartless?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked to the side and whistled nervously.

Sakura tried not make eye contact.

Sasuke sighed. _Is that really what they think of me?_

Kakashi thought about it for a while, "Well, if you're all really eager to do it, I can't convince you otherwise."

"Really, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, disbelieving.

Kakashi nodded.

Naruto jumped in triumph, "Yaaaaaay!"

Sakura placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "Thank you, Sasuke."

Sasuke's face turned _very_light pink. "Hn," he said.

Sakura took that as a 'you're welcome' and they moved on.

They arrived in the Land of Waves shortly and were passing through the forest when...

RUSTLE, RUSTLE.

Something suddenly moved in the bushes.

"Ahhh! There's something there!" said Naruto, who panicked and threw a kunai toward that direction.

The creature came out and they found out that it was...

"A bunny?" Sakura asked.

"Oh my gosh!" Naruto said, bowing down to the bunny, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you Mr. Bunny, sir?"

_He's apologizing to the rabbit? How stupid can this guy get? _Sasuke thought.

Then, Kakashi noticed something, the bunny was _white_but it was the middle of spring. This season, the rabbits should be _brown;_the rabbit was surely raised indoors.

"Get down!" Kakashi commanded.

Before ducking, Sasuke grabbed the arm of a person who was nearest to him—which turned out to be Sakura, while Kakashi pulled Naruto and Tazuna down.

Just then, an explosion occurred and five shuriken soared above their heads, and hit the trees behind them.

Kakashi was the first to get up.

Naruto followed, pulling Tazuna along.

Apparently, Sasuke was still holding on to Sakura's arm the whole time. And when he noticed, he made it seem like he 'helped' her up.

"Thanks again, Sasuke."

"Hn." Again, you could almost see the tint of pink on Sasuke's cheeks.

Kakashi looked around and spotted a man leaning on the trunk of a tree, standing on its branch.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi told his students, "Triangle formation! Protect Tazuna!"

Kakashi glared at the figure who chuckled, "Kakashi Hatake, famous copy ninja, pleasure to meet you."

Kakashi only glared, "Zabuza Momoshi, demon of the mist, pleasure's all mine."

Zabuza then brought out his gigantic sword and held the tip next to Kakashi's throat.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed. _That is one humungous sword. (O_O)_

"What do you want, Momochi?" Kakashi asked him, through narrowed eyes.

"Just hand over that bridge-builder over there," Zabuza said, pointing to Tazuna, "And maybe I'll spare you and your three brats."

Kakashi didn't move the slightest. His eyes still narrowed.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi said, "Take Tazuna and get away from here."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed, "We're not leaving you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Naruto, listen to me." Kakashi said, "It's too dangerous. Just hurry up and take Tazuna home."

"No way, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto told him, "We're going to stay here and help you!"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded, too.

Kakashi sighed, "Okay. But protect Tazuna at all costs, got it?"

"Got it." All three of the genin replied.

"I'm getting tired of waiting," Zabuza said.

Kakashi knew that this was getting serious; he lifted his headband revealing his sharingan.

Sasuke's eyes widened, _How did he...?_

_The Sharingan._Sakura thought.

"I told you this would be a lot easier if you just hand over the bridge-builder," said Zabuza.

"Not if I can help it," Kakashi launched for the first attack.

Kakashi and Zabuza fought in an all-out clone battle while the three genin were surveying the match and guarding Tazuna.

After a few minutes of watching, Naruto noticed that maybe Kakashi needed help.

"Hey guys," Naruto called out to his teammates, "don't you think we should do something?" He jerked his head towards the battle, motioning for them to look there.

The three looked over to the battle which was now in a lake; apparently, Kakashi was in a water prison jutsu and he couldn't get out.

Sasuke looked over to his teammates, "Do any of you know how to get Kakashi out of that prison of water?"

"I might," Sakura answered, her voice unsure a bit.

"Go ahead and try," said Sasuke, "Naruto and I will distract Tazuna."

Sakura nodded.

Naruto nodded as well, but then asked, "What about Tazuna?"

Sakura asked him, "Naruto, you know how to create shadow clones, right?"

He nodded.

"Can you make three shadow clones to replace us here?" she asked him, "Just until we free Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto blushed, "Su-sure Sakura-chan."

In a flash, three 'Narutos' appeared and took the triangle formation for the three genin.

The three of them approached the battle, only to hear their sensei cry out, "No! Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura! Get back! It's too dangerous!" He panicked.

"We're going to help you Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, "And there's nothing you can say to stop us!"

The three put on determined faces and went on with their plan.

Naruto yelled, "Shadow clone jutsu!" In return, twenty 'Narutos' appeared and launched themselves at Zabuza.

He was momentarily confused for a moment and then fought back on the clones with full force.

Meanwhile, Sakura made her way over to her sensei.

"Sakura," Kakashi said, "What are you doing?"

Sakura was inspecting the prison of water, when she said, "Freeing you."

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Can you really do that?"

"I can try," Sakura answered.

Sasuke was skillfully using his shuriken jutsu while battling Zabuza.

He turned over to Sakura, _hurry up over there Sakura._

Sakura made some handsigns and positioned her palms on a part the water; the portion that she touched glowed lime-green. She then dipped her kunai in that portion, and it also turned lime-green.

She concentrated her chakra on her feet and then ran on the water with some difficulty.

When she reached the water-like cage, she slashed it with her kunai. It freed Kakashi but...

SPLASH!

Sakura lost the concentration on her feet and fell in the water.

"Sakura are you okay?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura heard his voice and swam up to the surface, "I'm fine."

"Let's go," said Kakashi, "Oh, and thank you."

Sakura nodded.

They swam towards the two boys.

Sasuke and Naruto saw Sakura and Kakashi approaching so they retreated, taking Sakura with them.

They went back to the bridge builder, panting. Despite their fatigue, they still remained in a triangle formation around their client with battle stances.

"Great job out there guys," Sakura said suddenly.

"You did great too, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said and smiled.

Sasuke nodded.

They watched the rest of the battle, where Kakashi got the upper hand copying Zabuza's attacks.

They were fighting for a whole hour and...

Zabuza was pinned to a tree, unconscious.

Kakashi went over and checked for a pulse on his neck.

There was none.

Unexpectedly, a ninja wearing a mask and a robe had 'popped in'.

He explained that he was a hunter ninja who has been searching for Zabuza from the land of mist.

"His body has very important information," he said, "I shall take him with me now."

The hunter ninja draped Zabuza over his shoulder, bowed in thanks, and left without another word.

The three ninjas and Tazuna felt relieved.

"Well," Tazuna says, "We better get home; my family might be worried."

The team nods and they set off.

After a few minutes of walking...

BLAG!

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi was on the floor, unconscious. Probably because he was exhausted.

Sasuke and Naruto each took an arm and draped it over their shoulders. Sakura was in charge of Tazuna.

And then, the two boys dragged—literally _dragged_—Kakashi along with them.

It wasn't long before Tazuna pointed to a small house near the ocean, "There's my house."

"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed, relief adorning his features, "Kakashi-sensei's getting heavy."

_He's right. _Sasuke thought.

And...

BLAG!

Naruto and Sasuke (still carrying Kakashi) fell face-first on the ground.

_Whoopsie._

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**The Forest of Chakra and Bonds**

_"...climb these trees without using your hands..."_

_"...stay here and bond for a while..."_

_"...we're all the same..."_

_"...help them find comfort in each other..."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER EIGHT: REVISED!:)<strong>_


	9. The Forest of Chakra and Bonds

**The Forest of Chakra and Bonds**

**Disclaimer:**_**Do I own Naruto? NOPE. I only own this plot idea.**_

* * *

><p>"Ka-Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelped as his teacher started fluttering his eyelids.<p>

The said man's vision focused revealing his blonde student only inches from his face.

"Naruto…?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto was still close to his sensei's face, "Yes, sensei?" he said.

"What are you doing?"

Naruto noticed what he was doing and immediately backed away. He heard Sasuke mutter "loser" from somewhere in the background.

"What happened?" asked Kakashi as he looked around and studied the room he was in. Sasuke and Sakura had their backs against the wall while Tazuna and Naruto were kneeling next to him.

"You passed out," replied Sasuke.

_Obviously._Kakashi thought. His face then turned serious as he looked at his students. "Zabuza," he said out loud.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, "he's dead now, right?"

When his teacher seized to reply, Naruto's eyes widened. "So, he's still alive?" he cried.

"Most probably," replied Kakashi as he turned to Sakura, "Sakura, what do you know about hunter-nin?"

Sakura thought for a minute. "A hunter-nin is a special Anbu given the specific duty of hunting down missing-nin," she said, "they kill their target, taking the head as proof, and then completely dispose of the body by using various methods. This is done in order to make sure the village secrets which a ninja's body holds will not be revealed to outsiders."

"Good," Kakashi said. _As expected from Sakura._

"And did you notice anything funny with the hunter-nin that took Zabuza?" he asked all of his students.

There was a full minute of pregnant silence as they thought.

"Hn," replied Sasuke, "I heard that hunter-nin should dispose of the body immediately. If he was a _real _hunter-nin, he would have done the job then and there."

"Exactly," said Kakashi, "That makes that hunter-nin an imposter. I have no idea what his relation to Zabuza is, but we have to train as soon as possible."

At the minute Naruto heard 'train', he jumped up, "All right!"

"Wait," a woman went into the room holding a towel and some fresh bandages. "He can't train yet, not until he's fully healed."

Kakashi stared at the woman for a while; _he had no idea who she was._

"Oh," the woman realized why Kakashi stared at her weirdly, "silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter."

Kakashi nodded, "Nice to meet you Tsunami, but I'm sure I'm fully capable of handling myself."

"But," she said, "You really shouldn't strain yourself."

"Don't worry," Kakashi said, "I'm not going to." He then stared at his students, "they are."

There was something about his stare that made Naruto flinch and gulp.

* * *

><p>Team Seven was making their way through the forest, anxious for the kind of training they're going to face.<p>

They kept a slow pace because Kakashi was still in crutches and they didn't want him to strain himself.

Kakashi stopped when they reached a small clearing.

"Okay," Kakashi said, "for the training today, we will practice on your chakra control."

"What?" Naruto asked, "What did you say? _Catra_ control?"

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped.

"No, Naruto," said Kakashi, "_chakra _control."

"So," Naruto said, "what are we supposed to do?"

"The task is simple," Kakashi said, "you're going to climb trees."

"Climb trees?" Naruto blurted out, "This is gonna be a piece of cake! Believe it!"

"There's a catch," Kakashi said as Naruto quieted down.

Kakashi formed a hand sign and climbed up the tree…without using his hands. He walked up the tree as if he was walking on flat ground. He then walked upside down on a sturdy branch.

"You have to climb up the tree without using your hands," he finally said, "Focus the chakra on the soles of your feet, and you have to focus the right amount of chakra. If it's too much, your feet could repel you from the tree; however, if it's too little, you'd end up falling off."

"Use the kunai to mark the last step you made before falling off," he continued, "make a goal to pass that marker every time."

The three stood up and prepared for their sensei's 'go' sign.

"Ready," Kakashi said studying his students, "begin!"

All three made the hand sign, each feeling an accelerating burst of chakra on their feet.

Naruto was the first to try; he began to unsteadily make his way up the tree. After just a few steps, he fell on his head and off the tree.

_Naruto used too little chakra, _Kakashi thought.

Sasuke made his way up the tree too, a little steadier than Naruto. But after a few steps, his foot smashed the trunk which caused him to repel right off of the tree.

_Sasuke used too much chakra,_Kakashi said to himself. _As expected from these two._He then turned to the female, _I wonder…_

Sakura was getting ready to make her way up the tree. First one foot, then the other, she found herself having no trouble at all climbing the tree. Her body was perfectly erect, and if you watched her, it seemed effortless.

She didn't notice her teammates all looking at her as she ran until the very top. When she reached the top, she somersaulted and jumped on a branch. She used the branch to propel her feet so she could land on the floor.

Sasuke and Naruto looked amazed.

"Great job, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded her direction with a smirk. _She's really good._

_As expected from Sakura, again._Kakashi thought to himself. "Very good, Sakura," said Kakashi, "the only female on this team has the _best _chakra control. You two just lost to a girl."

Naruto and Sasuke seemed offended.

"I think what Kakashi sensei means is," Sakura cut before the two boys kill Kakashi or worse, kill _her,_ "You guys can do better."

Naruto and Sasuke calmed down. Naruto openly blushed, while Sasuke tried not to meet her eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, the three continued to train.

It was already late in the afternoon, and the three just about had enough of their training.

Sasuke was standing in front of the tree he was trying to climb on. He studied the several slashes that he had cut using his kunai.

_I'm running out of chakra,_ Sasuke thought, _but I can't lose to him._Sasuke glared sideways at Naruto.

Naruto was sitting on one of the roots of the tree, panting. "I can't take this anymore!" he blurted out.

Sakura was leaning on the tree next to Naruto, very exhausted. _I think I reached my limit._She thought to herself.

Kakashi saw how the three ninjas were so exhausted. He couldn't deny that each worked hard, so Kakashi told them to take the day-off from Tazuna, and he told them to stay there.

"I'll leave you guys here…" Kakashi told them, "…to bond…"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had unique confused expressions.

Kakashi wasn't, he completely remembered his conversation with the Third not long before they left for the mission…

"_How are they, Kakashi?" the Hokage asked._

"_Hmm?" Kakashi said._

"_How are they?" he repeated, "your team I mean."_

"_Well, they're the first to be able to pass my survival exam," Kakashi replied, "that's a good sign."_

"_Ah…I see…" the Hokage said, seeming to look out into the horizon._

"_Lord Hokage," Kakashi said, "is there any reason why this particular bunch was assigned to me?"_

_The Third looked at him in surprise, "why would you say that?"_

"_No reason." Kakashi replied, "just a feeling…"_

_The Hokage smiled, "Actually Kakashi, yes. Yes there is."_

_Kakashi kept silent, anxiously waiting for him to continue._

"_Naruto," the Hokage said, "What do you think of him?"_

"_He's probably one of the most energetic and anxious genin. He's a rambunctious ninja." Kakashi replied._

"_The nine-tailed fox container," the Hokage added, "this kid holds more power than all the ninja in this village put together."_

_After a slight silence, the Hokage continued by asking, "What about Sasuke? Sasuke Uchiha."_

"_Mysterious little kid, likes to keep to himself," Kakashi stated, "a very skilled ninja though, he's quite smart as well."_

"_The last surviving Uchiha," the Hokage said, "one who possesses the bloodline trait, the Sharingan. You'd help him with that, won't you?"_

_Kakashi nodded, and he waits for him to continue._

"_What about Sakura?" the Hokage asked, "have you gotten to know her?"_

"_The girl version of Sasuke," Kakashi smirked, "she doesn't like opening up so much. But she surprises me with her brains and her skills."_

_The Hokage was chuckling, "Girl version of Sasuke? Why didn't I think of that?" His expression then turned serious, "Maybe if they met before, they would have been great friends…"_

"_She's a Haruno," the Hokage continues after a second, "expect her perfect chakra control, and as well as the ability to use jutsus with all elements. I think water's her strongest one as of now."_

_There was a pregnant silence until the Hokage says, "Sakura's really pretty too, am I right?"_

_Kakashi couldn't help but agree. Even Sasuke and Naruto fell under her 'spell'._

"_Lord Hokage," Kakashi said, "I don't get it. What does this have to do with you assigning them to me?"_

"_Absolutely nothing," the Hokage said, "we were merely discussing their skills."_

_Kakashi sweatdropped._

"_Actually the common denominator of you four is not due to skills," the Third continued, "it's more of…personal…"_

_Kakashi said, realizing a few points, "Lord Hokage, didn't they each grow up without a family?"_

_The Hokage nodded, with a pitiful expression._

"_Naruto's family was killed during—you know—the attack of the nine-tailed fox." He said, "Sasuke's was killed during the Uchiha massacre. And Sakura's story is a bit more complicated…"_

_Kakashi nodded._

"_So," the Third said, "They each grew up without a family. This is what makes them different from the others, but this makes them so much similar to you."_

_Kakashi felt pity for his students._

"_These kids forgot what love and comfort is like," the Hokage added, "they don't have anyone to run to, anyone to talk to."_

_Kakashi asked, "Lord Hokage, what_exactly _do you want me to do?"_

"_Kakashi," the Hokage looked at him firmly, "All I'm asking you to do is help them."_

"_Help them?" Kakashi asked._

"_Help them find comfort in you, Kakashi," the Hokage confirmed, "help them find comfort in each other."_

"_I will." Kakashi said, walking away._

Kakashi looked back and waved at his students, "you know the way back to Tazuna's."

He looked forward, assured as the words rang in his head…_Help them find comfort in you…help them find comfort in each other…_

And that's just what he would do.

Naruto was sitting in between Sasuke and Sakura with his hands behind his head. "I'm bored!" he blurted out.

"Tch. Then go fly a kite, you loser," Sasuke said to him.

Naruto glared at the raven-haired boy, "You're such a teme!"

"At least I'm not a dobe!" Sasuke countered.

"Teme!"

"Dobe!"

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

"You're such a dobe."

"Arrgh! Teme!"

Naruto turned away from Sasuke and pouted. He saw Sakura staring at something not so far away.

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto said, "What are you looking at?"

Even this caught Sasuke's attention when Sakura didn't respond.

The two faced the direction Sakura was looking at.

It was a little boy crying on the ground, apparently, he had hurt himself.

The mother and father came running, along with another little girl who looks older than him.

The boy wept, and showed his mother the bruise.

The mother picked him up and kissed him on the cheek, "it's okay Takeko, let's go home."

"Don't cry Takeko! That's a brave boy!" said the father.

The little girl hugged him to comfort him.

The whole family went home hand in hand.

When the family was completely out of sight, Sasuke and Sakura looked to the ground. Naruto felt close to tears.

"It must be great huh?" Naruto asked, causing his two teammates to look at him.

"It must be great to have a family." He continued.

"Yeah…" said Sakura.

"Hn," said Sasuke.

"So? You both agree?" Naruto looked at his two teammates.

They nodded.

"What happened to yours, Naruto?" Sakura suddenly asked.

Naruto seemed kind of thrown off guard with her question but he chose to reply anyway. "Uh…I'm not really sure," he said, "I never met them, you know. The Hokage says they died the night I was born. I can't help feeling guilty that maybe…maybe…I caused their death."

Sakura looked to the ground and then to Sasuke, expecting him to answer the same question. But she thought twice that maybe Sasuke won't answer.

Her expectations were proven wrong when Sasuke looked to the sky and spoke.

"My family was killed...by my own brother," he told them.

Sakura stayed quiet and Naruto said, "No way!"

"I remember everything so clearly," Sasuke said, "I was coming home from school that time, and when I came home to the compound, there was no one there. All the lights were off, and nobody was outside."

"I went inside my house expecting my family to be there, but there they were…on the ground—dead. Itachi was there telling me to run and telling me that he did this to make himself stronger. I hate myself, I couldn't do anything so I had no choice but to run, run like a coward." Sasuke spat out the word '_coward.'_

"You weren't a coward Sasuke," Sakura told him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

At that moment, Sasuke actually felt _comforted_.

Sakura noticed that Naruto and Sasuke were staring at her, waiting for her story.

"Oh, me?" Sakura asked, pointing her finger at herself.

Sasuke nodded, while Naruto said, "Yeah Sakura-chan! What's your story?"

"It's a long story," Sakura said, looking up.

"We've got time," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded.

"I lived in a commoner's village in the country, the closest one to the leaf village. We had to move there because my mother found a job that would pay well." She said.

"What happened to your dad?" Naruto asked.

"I never met him. He died in the Great Ninja war before I was born; my mom said that he was a great ninja though." Sakura replied.

"Were you born in the commoner's village?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shook her head, "I was born here. I just moved for my mom's job. My older brother graduated from the academy before we left, but he decided to quit so he could help my mom and since my dad was already dead, no one could teach him about our bloodline trait."

"You had an older brother too?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded, "The night my mom died, my brother left me. I had no idea where he went, I also had no idea what to do, and I was only five years old when he left."

"How'd you get to go to the hidden leaf village?" Naruto asked, now very indulged in Sakura's life story.

"Lord Hokage found out that my mom died, and to keep our bloodline, he sent two Anbus to find us—me and my brother." She said, "I didn't even know if I was capable of being a ninja, or if I was only a commoner like my mom. I decided to give it a shot."

"I worked twice as hard as you guys in the academy because I was a week late," Sakura continued, "but I managed."

"Whoa, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, "That's one interesting life story you've got there."

Sasuke suddenly said, "We're all alike."

Sakura and Naruto looked at him weirdly.

"You're right, Sasuke," Sakura realized just a moment later.

"We're all…" said Naruto, "…alone?"

Sakura smiled—the first smile Sasuke saw from her—"Not anymore," she said. Sakura rarely smiles! This is great!

"You're right, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, "I actually found people I can relate to!"

Sasuke hated to admit it, but Naruto was right. For the first time, he felt comfortable with people.

The three were content in the silence they shared when Sakura realized how late it's become.

"Guys," Sakura said, "I think we should go."

Sasuke replied, "hn."

"Race you two home!" said Naruto with a cheeky grin.

"You're on," said Sasuke.

"Let's do it!" said Sakura.

The three sped on home, enjoying each other's company.

They found where they belong today, they found the people they would protect always, the people they would run to, cry to, talk to, and the people who actually accepted them.

Content, Kakashi emerged from the shadows, smiling under his mask.

…_help them find comfort in each other…_

I did.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**The Battle on the Bridge!**

_"...he's back...!"_

_"...Sasuke, don't do it...!"_

_"...it's now or never..."_

_"...I can't melt it..."_

_"...the Sharingan...!"_

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER NINE: REVISED! :)<strong>

**Well, actually I didn't change much because this is my favourite chapter. So...yeah. I'm moving on to the next one. :))**


	10. The Battle at the Bridge

**The Battle at the Bridge!**

**Disclaimer: **_**Shut up. I DON'T own Naruto, okay? :(**_

* * *

><p>"Naruto," said Sakura who was shaking her sleeping blonde teammate like there was no tomorrow.<p>

Sasuke was so annoyed that he decided to take the matter into his own hands.

"Stand back," commanded Sasuke. Sakura did as she was told.

Sasuke did a few handsigns, then said, "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!" Instantly, a small ball of fire made its way to Naruto's—ahem—back-end.

Naruto immediately woke up to the smell of something cooking—or in this case, burning.

He looked at his two teammates, "Guys…what's that I smell…burning?"

Sakura covered her mouth to suppress her giggle and looked away while Sasuke smirked and pointed to Naruto's ass.

Once Naruto saw this, he started screaming, "AAAAHHHHHHHH! MY BUTT'S ON FIIIREEEEE!" He was making such a racket, running around the room, screaming, "Temeee! Sakuraaa-chaaan! Heeeeelp!"

"Should we help him?" Sakura mockingly asked Sasuke with a smirk.

Sasuke smirked as well and said, "Hn."

Sakura noticed a bucket of mop water at the corner of the room; she grabbed it and threw the water on Naruto.

The fire was put out but Naruto was still screaming and yelling. It was so noisy up there that Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, came in to check on them. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

Naruto ran up to the woman and screamed, "Put this fire out!" as he was pointing to his back end.

"Fire?" Tsumani asked, perplexed, "What fire?"

"The fire on my—" Naruto cut himself off when he noticed that there was no fire in sight. "Uhh…never mind," muttered Naruto, embarrassed.

When Tsunami left the room, he noticed Sakura and Sasuke smirking at him, amused.

"You guys!" Naruto jumped at them strangling Sasuke, "What the heck did you do that for?"

Sasuke, pushing Naruto off him replied, "Waking you up, loser."

"You could have found another way to do it!" he yelled. "A way that doesn't involve fire…" he muttered.

"Yeah, yeah," said Sasuke, "We already tried that. Sakura was shaking you, trying to wake you up for hours!"

Naruto blushed, _Sakura waking me up? How sweet._

When Sakura noticed that Naruto was drooling, she shook his shoulders, "Naruto, are you okay?"

"Oh yeah…" Naruto replied, still daydreaming, "just fine, _sweetie_." –This landed him a punch from dear Sasuke.

Sakura, confused at why Sasuke punched Naruto, cleared her throat, "Uh…we have to go…"

Naruto and Sasuke were stuck in a glaring contest—again.

Sakura sighed. She went near her teammates and snapped her fingers in between their faces. "Hey! We've gotta go!" she told them.

They broke out of their stupid glaring contest—for now, to go downstairs.

"What took you so long?" Kakashi asked his students.

"Had to wake up that dobe over there," Sasuke said, pointing at Naruto.

Naruto glared at him, "With fire," he muttered.

Kakashi looked over at Sakura for an explanation, but all he got was a shrug from the girl.

Kakashi sighed, "Let's get going."

"Come on," Tazuna complained, "We're wasting daylight."

Tazuna led the way to the bridge.

* * *

><p>However, when they reached the bridge, it was not at all what you expected.<p>

"What the heck?" Naruto blurted.

The workers were all lying on the floor, some knocked out cold, some dead.

Tazuna's eyes widened, "No!"

The five noticed that the mist was getting thicker around them by the second. No one could see anything.

When the mist was finally clearing, two figured emerged from them. It was none other than Zabuza Momochi, beside him was the hunternin they met the other day.

"He's back!" Naruto yelled out pointing to the man.

"Zabuza," Kakashi spat out.

"So we meet again, Kakashi," Zabuza said.

Kakashi decided to charge at him, but the hunter-nin got in the way and deflected Kakashi before he could lay a finger on Zabuza.

Zabuza chuckled evilly, "hand over the bridge-builder if you don't want any trouble."

No sudden movement from anyone.

"All right," said Zabuza, "we do this the hard way!"

Kakashi again launches an attack on Zabuza. The hunter-nin charges to Kakashi but is pushed away by Sasuke.

Sasuke tries to land punches on Haku but Haku was able to dodge each and every one of them.

Sasuke gets frustrated and fights Haku using taijutsu only which Haku skillfully deflects.

Sakura and Naruto were keeping Tazuna in sight while Kakashi battles with Zabuza.

Sasuke gets more and more frustrated, he couldn't land a single blow on his opponent. He then closes his eyes and clenches his fists. When he opens them, he reveals…the SHARINGAN!

Sasuke's eyes were blood red, not the usual dark color they were. Using his sharingan, he sufficiently lands a punch on Haku. Sasuke feels himself getting faster and faster, landing punch after punch and kick after kick on Haku; he was too fast for him.

Sakura and Naruto watched in amazement as Sasuke went all-out with Haku.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was having a little trouble. The mist was too thick, his Sharingan appears useless.

Haku had enough of this, he did some handsigns with a single hand and cried out, "Secret Ice Style Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw that he was trapped in a cage of ice mirrors.

_Ice mirrors?_Sasuke thought to himself. _What could they possibly do?_

Sasuke went closer to one mirror, he saw Haku inside one, holding needles.

Haku hopped from mirror to mirror throwing several needles on Sasuke. When he stopped, Sasuke had several scratches.

Naruto decided that it was time for him to do something. "Sakura-chan," he said, "Keep watch on Tazuna while I go help Sasuke."

No matter how much Sakura wanted to help too, she had to stay and protect the client. She had no choice but to nod to Naruto.

Naruto yelled, "Shadow clone jutsu!" Several Narutos came out of nowhere and jumped at Haku, momentarily distracting him.

Sasuke noticed that Haku was gone, and he heard Naruto from the inside. Sasuke saw that he could fit through one of the gaps, he made a run for it but he found himself being repelled and pushed back.

_I guess there's no choice,_thought Sasuke, _I'm going to have to break these mirrors._

Sasuke did all he can to try breaking them, but none of his attacks made even a dent on it whatsoever.

"Let Sasuke out, you creep!" he heard Naruto yell from the outside.

_Naruto!_Thought Sasuke, _he can help me get out of this! He could try breaking the mirrors from the outside…_

"Hey Sasuke-teme," Naruto came up from behind him, disrupting his thoughts.

"Do-Dobe!" Sasuke exclaimed, "What the heck are you doing?"

"I made a clone distract him while I snuck inside to help you!" said Naruto clearly beaming with pride, "Great plan, huh?"

Sasuke clenched his teach, "No you, loser! Terrible plan!" He scolded Naruto, "The mirrors can't be broken from the inside you idiot! I was going to ask you to try breaking it from out there!"

"That won't work," the hunter-nin said, "These mirrors are not ordinary mirrors, they are ten million times stronger than regular ones."

Sasuke blamed Naruto, "Now we're both trapped, you idiot!"

Naruto and Sasuke glared at the ninja.

The ninja, again, hopped from mirror to mirror throwing hundreds of needles and injuring Naruto and Sasuke.

"There's gotta be a way to get out of here," Naruto said.

Sasuke started forming several hand signs.

"What're you doing Sasuke?" asked Naruto.

"These crystals are made out of ice," said Sasuke, "and what melts ice?"

"Fire…?" said Naruto.

"Exactly," said Sasuke as he formed more hand signs.

"Don't do it Sasuke! It'll just waste your chakra!" Naruto yelled, but it was too late…

"Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!" A huge ball of chakra came out of Sasuke mouth as he aimed it towards the mirrors.

And…there was no effect whatsoever.

"…I can't melt it."

Sasuke sighed in frustration. "Any other ideas?" he asked Naruto.

"Just one," said Naruto as he formed a hand sign, "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!"

Several Naruto appeared and tried smashing the mirrors, hitting the mirrors with kunais,_anything_! Naruto gave up after a few minutes and his clones disappeared.

"I guess there's only one thing to do," said Naruto looking to the sky—dramatically.

Sasuke waited, anxious.

"Saaaaakuraaaaaaa-chaaaan!" yelled Naruto.

This made Sasuke smack his forehead with his palm.

* * *

><p>Sakura heard Naruto yell out her name.<p>

"My teammates," Sakura said to Tazuna, "They're in trouble."

"Kakashi-sensei—!"

"A little busy here, Sakura!" Kakashi yelled while trying to dodge Zabuza's attacks.

Sakura thought for a minute. "Aha!" she said. Sakura did a few hand signs and then smacked her palm to the ground. The ground rose up from its natural position to form a box which would protect Tazuna if ever.

"Hang in there, Tazuna!" Sakura told him while making her way towards her teammates.

"As if I have a choice...?" Tazuna shouted.

She stood in front of the ice mirrors dome where Naruto and Sasuke were trapped in.

Naruto saw Sakura from a gap. "Sakura-chan!" he cried out, gleefully.

Sasuke couldn't deny that he was happy to see her too.

"What's happening?" she asked.

"Well—" Naruto was cut off because someone had grabbed Sakura from behind and threw her inside the dome. Her back crashed on one of the mirrors behind Naruto and Sasuke. Which meant—yes, all three of them were trapped inside that thing!

"What do we do now?" Naruto asked, panicking.

Haku threw more needles at them for the longest time ever; all three were left severely injured.

"Have you guys noticed something?" Sasuke asked.

"You mean like that we're not yet dead?" replied Naruto.

"Exactly!" Sasuke said.

Naruto looked at him like he was crazy.

"He's right Naruto," Sakura interjected, "How long have you guys been fighting here?"

"I don't know!" replied Naruto, "A _really_long time?"

"And don't you notice how he never hits the vital areas?"Continued Sakura, "like the heart or the brain?"

Naruto finally realized it.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said, "Can't you do ice jutsus?"

"I haven't mastered anything!" she replied, frantic.

"Do something!" commanded Sasuke as more needles were thrown at them non-stop.

"I'll try something," she said, "but it's a little rusty."

"Finish it up Haku!" they heard Zabuza call out from his battle with Kakashi.

"This is it," Haku told them, "I'm not gonna hold back anymore, these needles will pierce you—kill you!"

All three of their eyes widened when they heard that.

Sakura was still doing her hand signs when the deadly needles were thrown at them.

"Sakura!" Naruto screamed.

And everything went white…

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**The Broken Seal**

_"...Sakura...!"_

_"...kill me, I am of no use..."_

_"...you sacrifice your life to save the one you love..."_

_"...the bridge of _..."_

* * *

><p><strong>ON CRACK! Bonus Story # 1<strong>

Congratulations, dear reader! You have stumbled upon a bonus story!

As a reward for you, readers being so patient and understanding, I have decided to create a (CRACK) bonus story every ten chapters! Yay! This is just to add a little spice and humor to your reading life.

I would like to warn you that the characters here are ON CRACK. Meaning they're a little OOC.

_(__**SasukeSakuraLove410:**_** Ahem? *crosses arms and taps foot on the ground*)**

Okay, fine! They're VERY OOC! You happy?

Anyways...here it is!

By the way! The legend is...

This is Naruto speaking. (Naruto's action)

_This is Sakura speaking. (Sakura's action)_

**Sasuke speaking. (Sasuke's action)**

Kakashi speaking. (Kakashi's action)

"Other characters"

**BONUS STORY # 1:**** Where...Naruto is acting like a baby, Sakura's REALLY cranky, and Kakashi tries to convince Sasuke to read Icha-Icha-Paradise! **

I'm hungry.

**Then eat yourself. **

No way! I want milk.

**What?**

Naruto wants his milk!

**Are you serious? No ramen?**

Milk! Milk! Naruto want milk!

**What the hell? **

_Why don't you shut up and just get him some milk?_

Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

_Actually, I FELL OFF THE BED! _

Are you serious?

_Do I look like I'm kidding? (Giant nerve popping out of her forehead.)_

Naruto still wants milk!

**I am not getting this idiot milk!**

_Shut up and be a man, Sasuke!_

**How is getting milk for Naruto 'being a man'?**

_If it stops him from acting like that! (Sakura points to baby Naruto sucking his thumb.)_

Oooh, I have some way for you to act like a man, Sasuke. (Giggle, giggle.) Come over here.

**No.**

Why not? (Batters eyelashes.)

**I have a bad feeling about this. **

(Hands Icha-Icha-Paradise to Sasuke) Read this! And take care of my precious babies! (Kakashi pulls out handkerchief and wipes his eyes.)

**Ew. No way. I am not a perv!**

Not yet. (Kakashi chuckling evilly.)

**You're an idiot, Kakashi. **

('IDIOT' written in gigantic letters made out of cinder-blocks fall on Kakashi's head.)

Where's Naruto's milk? WAAAAAAAH! (Anime tears come out of his eyes.)

_Oh my god! Stop crying! It's giving me a headache!_

Why you so cranky, Mommy Sakura-chan? WAAAAAH! Where's my milk?

_(Sakura hits baby Naruto on the head.) That'll teach you some manners! And I'm NOT YOUR MOMMY!_

WAAAAAAAAAH! Daddy Sasuke-teme! I want milk! And Mommy Sakura-chan's CRANKY!

**(WHACKS baby Naruto's head.) I am NOT YOUR DADDY!**

_(WHACKS baby Naruto's head.) And I am NOT YOUR MOMMY!_

I still want milk. (Crying.)

If Sakura's the mom and Sasuke's the dad, then what am I?

**Why do you even care?**

Because—

GRANDPA!

What?

(Clapping hands) GRANDPA KAKASHI!

GRANDPA! (Kakashi turns wrinkly and old.)

**Serves you right. **

(In a raspy old man's voice) Why you so disrespectful towards an elder, eh? (Brings out a cane.)

**Where'd you get the cane?**

(Starts to whack Sasuke's head)

_WHY ARE YOU SO NOISY?_

**Kakashi's whacking me! **

Yaay! Go GRANDPA-KAKASHI!

**STOP WHACKING ME!**

I'm not gonna stop whacking you until you read Icha-Icha Paradise!

**What? No way!**

(Storm clouds encircle Kakashi) Try me.

**(Gulps) All right!**

What? (Momentarily turns sunny)

**Give me the books.**

(Kakashi hands over his whole collection.)

**FIRE STYLE: FIRE BALL JUTSU! (Sasuke burns the books.)**

_Oi! Why does it smell like smoke! I HATE SMOKE! SASUKE!_

My babies! (Digs up a grave for every book.)

**Pathetic.**

(Kakashi picks up his cane and glares evilly at Sasuke.)

**I think I saw the face of EVIL. **

(Kakashi whacks Sasuke non-stop.)

**He's whacking me again!**

GO GRANDPA!

I am NOT A GRANDPA!

Then why do you have the cane?

To whack Sasuke with. (Goes back to whacking Sasuke.)

**Help!**

_Handle your own problems, you idiot! I'm going home!_

Naruto wants breast milk!

(Kakashi stops whacking Sasuke mid-air and stares at Naruto disbelievingly.)

**(Sasuke stares at Naruto.)**

_(Sakura stops walking mid-way and stares at Naruto.)_

What?

(Kakashi starts giggling and then looks at Sakura.)

_(Storm clouds hover over Sakura's head. Lightning flashes. She cracks her knuckles.)_

Eh? Am I in trouble?

**No, idiot. You just looked into the eyes of death. **

_(Sakura punches Naruto with full force.)_

(Baby Naruto flies over the horizon.)

**(Sasuke stands there, mouth agape.)**

(Tears in Kakashi's eyes) Good bye, dear grandchild.

**HE'S NOT YOUR GRANDCHILD! **_HE'S NOT YOUR GRANDCHILD!_

Way to ruin a man's dreams, you evil people!

_I'm going home!_

**Same here. I'm tired of this stupidity. **

No kidding. I wonder where Naruto went.

_Don't know. Don't care. I'm going to get some shut-eye. (Sakura leaves.)_

**I'm leaving. (Sasuke leaves.)**

I'm going to find Naruto and give him _**the talk**_. 

(From the forest) Why do I have a feeling Kakashi-sensei's gonna do something terrible to me?

* * *

><p><strong><em>CHAPTER TEN: REVISED AND ADDED! :)<em>**


	11. The Broken Seal

**The Broken Seal**

**Disclaimer:**_**I do not own Naruto, the anime, or whatever...**_

* * *

><p>"Sakura-chaaaaan!" Naruto yelled as Haku threw the needles towards them.<p>

Naruto and Sasuke shut their eyes and waited for the pain...

...but it never came.

And they noticed why...

Sakura was able to use a jutsu to take one of the ice mirrors from the dorm and use it as a shield.

Sasuke sighed in relief as the needles were deflected.

Thankfully, no one got hurt.

They were supposed to escape through the gap that Sakura made by relocating one of the ice mirrors, but it greatly strained her physically.

Her body couldn't take it anymore, so the ice mirror had been pulled out of her grasp and was placed back in the exact location it was before. It's like the dome had some magnetic ability.

Due to pure frustration, Naruto bellowed, "How the heck do we get out of this thing?"

Sasuke wanted to bash the idiot's skull for even asking that, but he needed to conserve his strength.

Sakura was busy thinking of a plan that she didn't notice the needles that Haku threw at her.

Both Naruto and Sasuke saw, and each desperately tried to reach their teammate.

"Sakura, watch out!" Sasuke told her.

She turned to face them just in time for her...

...to see that the needles had already penetrated Sasuke's body.

Yet there was no blood dripping whatsoever, they knew Sasuke was badly hurt.

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto cried out.

THUMP!

Sasuke fell backwards into Sakura's arms.

Naruto ran to their side.

"Why, Sasuke?" Sakura asked him, her expression was anxious and worried, "Are you _stupid_? Why did you save me?"

"I don't really know," Sasuke met her eyes with his own and replied, "My body just…moved."

Sasuke coughed out blood.

Sakura didn't want to admit it...

...and Naruto was smart enough to know...

...Sasuke's life is at its peak.

"No, Sasuke!" Sakura cried, "What can I do? This is all my fault! _I _should've been the one in your place!"

"Do-dobe, Saku-Sakura," Sasuke croaked out, "Your dreams, don't forget them."

Naruto and Sakura were speechless.

Here Sasuke was—dying. And all he was concerned about is telling them to remember about their dreams? Is he insane?

"Sa-Sasuke-teme!"

And that was the last thing Sasuke heard before his eyes closed...

_He's gone._

Sakura gently laid Sasuke's head on the ground, she couldn't think clearly at the moment.

"You!" Naruto pointed angrily at Haku, "You killed Sasuke!"

"It had to be done," Haku simply stated.

"No!" Naruto said, clenching his fists tightly until his knuckles turned white. He looked at the ground as tears started to fall, "Sasuke…he—he had a dream! A dream that he cannot carry out anymore because—because you killed him!"

Sakura noticed that Naruto was shaking, shaking out of control.

_What's happening? _Sakura thought to herself.

Naruto shut his eyes tightly to prevent anymore tears from falling.

"Na-Naruto..." whispered Sakura, "What's wrong...?"

He opened his eyes and Sakura noticed that they aren't the bright, cheery cerulean-coloured ones anymore...

...they were red-orange; cold and blood-thirsty.

Naruto then positioned on his knees, his arms outstretched and his hands placed firmly on the ground in front of him. His nails looked were long and sharp, and it scraped the ground with such force. His teeth grew as sharp as fangs, and the whiskers on his cheeks looked like strained scratches.

_The nine-tailed fox!_Sakura thought as Naruto lunged at Haku.

Naruto was quick; but Haku was only a second quicker as he barely dodged it, ligaments of cloth from his sleeve were torn, and his arm was left injured with a scratch from Naruto's claws.

But he didn't stop there. Naruto landed a series of kicks and punches into Haku's body, not to mention a couple of fatal scratches on Haku's thigh and abdomen.

Sakura watched with horror. At this rate, Haku was going to get mercilessly killed by the nine-tailed fox demon.

"Naruto, stop it!" Finally, Sakura found the voice to cry out, "Naruto! This isn't like you! Stop it, _please_!"

Naruto paused before scuffing Haku's face, which was—thankfully—being covered by his mask. And the mask? Well...it shattered into pieces before melodically hitting the ground.

Naruto growled and slowly advanced towards Haku for the finishing blow.

"Naruto! Stop it!"

Naruto cringed at the voice but he continued approaching his target.

"Naruto! _Please_!"

Again, the demon-boy flinched, but the words did not heed their way into his heart.

Sakura didn't want it to end like this, not this way.

Without hesitation, she threw her arms around Naruto's neck from behind. She rested her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes tightly.

"Stop it, Naruto. It _can't _end this way. This isn't you," she whispered.

Naruto's body stiffened from Sakura's embrace, and the words hit him like a bullet from a gun.

Sakura didn't let go of Naruto, even when he started trembling. She limply hung her arms around him and calmed him down with words.

_What am I doing? _Naruto thought, as he was brought back to his senses, _What the? Whose arms are around me? Sakura-chan? Why is Sakura-chan hugging me? Sakura-chan, what happened?_

Slowly, Naruto started to change back into his normal state. His eyes turned back to their brilliant blue color, and his whole body, too.

He stopped trembling.

Sakura noticed this and let go of him.

Naruto's face turned different shades of red as he replayed in his head what had happened. Sakura hugged him—hugged _him._Good thing he stopped himself from sighing dreamily.

Naruto looked at Sakura with his usual cheeky grin, all pink and bashful, and said, "Thanks Sakura."

Sakura didn't respond, instead she gave Naruto a small smile.

Naruto then turned back to Haku.

"Hey I know you!" Naruto suddenly blurted out, "We met in the woods, right?"

"What?" Sakura asked, completely confused.

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto said, "When I was out training again, I saw you!"

_Naruto was lying down on a bed of grass in a clearing. He was so exhausted from training alone so he decided to take a nap._

_He woke up and came face-to-face with a stranger._

"_Oh, hey there!" Naruto greeted her._

_Whoever she was, she was really pretty. Long brown hair that framed her face perfectly, cream-colored skin, sparkling black dough eyes, and a warm smile completed her features._

"_May I ask," The lady said, "What is a boy like you doing at a place like this?"_

"_I'm training," Naruto eagerly stated, "You see, I'm a ninja." He pointed to his forehead protector._

"_Oh," she looked up to the trees and sighed._

_"I was wondering…do you have anyone close to you?" That was such an out of the blue question, ne?_

_Naruto had a dazed expression on his face, instead of answering, he just blinked._

"_You know," she said, "someone you'd give your life for? Someone you'd vow to protect always?"_

"_Yeah…" Naruto replied, unsure, "I think I do…"_

"_I'll tell you a little secret," the lady said with a smile._

"_What is it?" Naruto asked, eager to find out._

"_Do you know that you fight your best when protecting those you love?" she said._

"_Really?" Naruto asked her._

"_Yes," she said, "Take me for example. I fight for someone, and when the time comes, I plan to give my life up for that very person if he tells me to."_

"_Who is this person?" Naruto asked, curious, "Is it a family member?"_

"_Sadly, all my family members are…deceased."_

"_Oh I'm sorry!" Naruto said, "I didn't mean to—"_

"_It's alright," she said, "you can say this person is…a special someone."_

_Naruto moved his eyebrows up and down, a sly smile plastered on his face, "A special person, huh?"_

"_Oh no no no no no," the woman said, giggling, "Not in that way."_

"_Oh," Naruto said while laughing, "I'm Naruto by the way."_

"_Nice to meet you," she said as she stood up, "Naruto."_

"_Same to you!" Naruto said waving goodbye._

"_Uh, Naruto," the woman said, already facing away from Naruto, "One more thing."_

"_What is it?" he asked._

"_I'm a boy." She—I mean he—stated._

"_WHAT?" Naruto yelled, loud enough for him to hear._

_He simply walked away, leaving a bewildered Naruto in the woods._

He's as pretty as Sakura! _Naruto thought as he was walking towards Tazuna's house._

"I'm sorry," Haku said as she looked at the two of them.

"What the heck?" Naruto yelled, "You kill Sasuke, you _tried_to kill us, and you apologize?"

"You see," Haku said, "I was only doing this for my master, Zabuza."

"Master?" Naruto asked, "He's your master?"

"Yes," He said, "I'll live for him, kill for him, and when the time comes, die for him."

"It doesn't have to be that way!" Naruto said, thinking of it as extremely unfair, "You're a person! Not a tool that someone could just throw away!"

"I've treated myself like that for so long," he said, "It's a little too late for me to change. And that is how it has been for years."

"Everyone deserves a chance to live," Naruto reasoned, "as a human being!"

"I've made this decision myself," Haku said, "He made me feel like I'm useful."

"_Useful_?" Naruto spat out.

As the two were conversing, Sakura was busy pulling out the needles that perforated Sasuke's body. But she was listening intently to what the two were discussing.

"Yes, and now, I'm useless," he said, further infuriating Naruto, "Please kill me."

"What?" Naruto cried out.

"I am no longer of use for my master," he said, "I am ready to die for him."

Naruto's and Sakura's eyes widened.

"I-I can't do that!" Naruto told him.

"Yes you can!"

"No I can't!"

"Yes yo—" Haku had cut himself off because he sensed that Zabuza was in danger.

"I must go now."

She quickly disappeared and as she did, the mirrors around the three genin shattered.

Naruto covered himself with his arms.

And Sakura dove on top of Sasuke and covered her head with her arms.

When the sound of shattering glass was no more, Sakura stood up and went to Naruto.

"What just happened?" she asked him.

Naruto blinked once, twice.

"I have no idea!" he shouted.

* * *

><p>Zabuza was currently being gnawed on by several dogs that Kakashi had summoned to help him; he couldn't move a muscle.<p>

"Now," Kakashi said, "It's time to finish you off Zabuza!"

Kakashi did several hand signs and something in his palm started to glow. The light grew bigger and bigger, and you could see that it was like Kakashi was holding a ball made out of lightning in his hand.

"Amazing!" Zabuza cried out, "The chakra's so powerful, it's visible!"

"Lightning blade!" Kakashi said out loud as he aimed it into Zabuza's chest.

Kakashi felt himself thrust the blade into a chest, when the mist clears, he sees that Haku had stepped in to block Kakashi's attack. In turn, Haku is the one who gets killed.

"Well done Haku," Zabuza mutters.

Kakashi's fist is still stuck in Haku's chest when Zabuza escapes the hounds' clutches and uses his gigantic sword to try and slay Kakashi.

Kakashi jumps away, with his fist still thrusted in Haku's chest.

When safe from Zabuza, he removes his fist from Haku and closes Haku's eyes as he appeared to have died in shock.

Sakura and Naruto carrying Sasuke on his back run to the scene.

Kakashi notices Sasuke and hangs his head in shame. "Poor Sasuke," he says.

Naruto lays Sasuke down on the ground and notices that Haku was out cold. "What—what happened to Haku?"

"He blocked my path when I tried to kill Zabuza," Kakashi explained, "He sacrificed his life to save him."

"Haku…" Naruto hung his head in pity then glared at Zabuza, "You! You did this to him! That boy had a life! He had a life! And what did you do? You took it from him!"

"Haku chose his life," Zabuza explained, "I had no reason to interfere."

"Yes you do!" Naruto yelled, "You were his master! You could've set him free!"

"That boy," Zabuza said, "he's just a…weapon!"

"He's a human being!" Sakura cried which made everyone look at her in surprise.

"It's his life," Zabuza said while looking down, "The boy's just my tool. He did well."

Everyone was surprised when Zabuza started shedding tears.

Hesitantly, Zabuza took his (gigantic) sword and impaled himself. He fell face-down next to Haku. "Thank you, Haku," he said before breathing his last.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said an unfamiliar voice from behind them.

"Gato," Tazuna spat out.

"Didn't think he'd fail this one," Gato said glancing at Zabuza, "What a shame. Well, time to find another shiny tool to do my bidding for me."

Gato started to walk away when a villager took a kunai and threw it at him just as he was about to get onto his boat.

"You value your people as a tool! You sick narcissistic bastard!" the villager told him, "because of that, you have to die!"

Gato spat out blood and fell into the water.

He won't be bothering anyone anymore.

Suddenly, it started to snow and Haku's body started to glow bright yellow.

"It-It's snowing," said Naruto as he danced around in it.

Kakashi smiled under his mask and let the cool snow fall on him.

Sasuke was set on the ground beside Sakura, and you could say she was ecstatic when...

"Sa-Sakura," Sasuke croaked out.

Sakura was kneeling next to him and her eyes widened at the sight. Sasuke was alive!

"Sasuke!" she said as she hugged him.

Sasuke felt a blush creep on his cheek but he shook it off before Sakura let go.

Sakura noticed her action and felt the awkwardness. Instead of ignoring it, she helped Sasuke up and said, "Glad to have you back."

Sasuke smirked in reply.

Kakashi and Naruto with Tazuna rushed over to the scene.

Each took their turn welcoming Sasuke back and they went off back into Tazuna's house, satisfied with the battle that occurred.

* * *

><p>"Well," Tazuna said as the three ninjas stepped out of his house, "Thank you so much for everything."<p>

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "It was no problem."

"Happy to oblige," Sakura said.

"Hn," said Sasuke.

"You best be on your way," Tsunami said, "Your boat is waiting in the mainland."

"Thank you," Kakashi said.

The three ninjas walked back to Konoha, happy with their accomplishment.

"When we get back," Naruto said, "can we go eat something?"

"Actually," Sakura said, "That doesn't sound so bad."

"For some weird reason," stated Sasuke, "I'm kind of hungry, too."

"Count me in!" said Kakashi as he patted their heads.

Before leaving, they visited the new bridge, "The Bridge of Hope". As Tazuna said, it gave hope and revelation to the people in the Land of the Waves.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams!**

_"...the chunin exams are coming soon..."_

_"...you, what is your name...?"_

_"...it is my privilage to be your boyfriend..."_

_"...this isn't the right floor..."_

_"...let's fight, Sasuke..."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER ELEVEN: REVISED!<strong>_

_**By: SasuSakuLove410. :)**_

Thanks for reading!

Kat11992. :)


	12. A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams!

**A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams!**

**Disclaimer:**_**Many people have asked me if I own Naruto, and I'm sad to say that I DON'T.**_

_**WARNING: This chapter may contain some OOC scenes from some characters...**_

* * *

><p>Team Seven and their Jounin leader were currently walking home from one of their D-rank missions.<p>

Naruto was busy grumbling about another cat that they had to save that day, Sasuke looked far from caring, and Sakura clearly had spaced out.

"Well," Kakashi said as he went in another direction, "See you three later, I've got some important meeting to go to at four-o-clock."

"Kakashi-sensei?" said Sakura looking at one of the clocks from the village stands, "it's four-thirty." _Not that I'm surprised, really, this guy has a knack for being late._

Sasuke and Naruto sweatdropped.

"Oops, am I late again?" Kakashi asked no one in particular.

"No duh, Kakashi sensei!" exclaimed Naruto.

"See you soon!" Kakashi said, disappearing in a 'poof' of smoke.

The three still stared at the spot where their sensei disappeared, trying to registered just what had happened.

"Tch. Wasn't really surprised that he's late," Sasuke said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Naruto said. He then turned to Sasuke with a confident smile on his face, "Let's spar, Sasuke-teme!"

"Not in the mood, dobe," Sasuke stated.

"Come on!" Naruto cried with anime tears, "Sakura! Sasuke-teme won't spar with me!"

"Not my problem," Sakura said, clearly teasing Naruto, "And what am I, your _mother_?"

Naruto shot a dirty look at Sakura who merely shrugged and then turned to Sasuke, "Don't tell me you're scared, teme!" Naruto said, attempting to play with the Uchiha's pride.

"Tch." Sasuke said with a scowl, "No. I'm just not in the mood, dobe."

"Yeah right! You're just scared that I'll beat you to a bloody pulp!"

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"Says the guy who's gonna lose anyway," Sasuke said with a victorious smirk.

"Why you-!" Naruto yelled, lunging at Sasuke who successfully dodged it, resulting to Naruto falling on his face.

_Is it always gonna be like this?_Sakura thought. "Just spar with him already, Sasuke," Sakura said, "It's getting annoying." _**(Kat11992: Ha! So how do you like **_**that, **_**Sasuke? You're the one annoying this time. *laughs evilly*) **_

"Whatever." Sasuke said, hating to be told what to do by a girl. _But this isn't any girl, it's Sakura._ He thought.

"Yay! Teme's gonna spar with me!" Naruto said; he hugged Sakura, "Thanks Sakura!"

Sasuke scoffed at the scene in front of him.

"Let go, Naruto," Sakura said, sighing.

The three were making their way towards the training grounds when Naruto spotted someone and called out, "Hey Konohamaru!"

Sasuke and Sakura turned to see who Naruto was referring to.

"Yo, Naruto!" a little kid said.

He turned to the two people who Naruto was with. Konohamaru went in front of Sasuke and asked, "Who's this?"

"That's Sasuke," Naruto replied, "Sasuke Uchiha. He's a real ice cube."

"_The_Sasuke Uchiha?" Konohamaru asked, "Cool! When I graduate from the academy, I'm going to be at the top of my class just like you!"

Sasuke just smirked at the kid.

"Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Naruto said, "no way! He may be at the top of the class, but I beat him one time!"

"No you did not." Sasuke said.

"Yes I did!" Naruto countered.

"Name it," Sasuke challenged.

Naruto just nervously fiddled with his fingers instead of replying.

Konohamaru ignored them and turned to their female teammate. When he saw her, his eyes turned into little heart shapes.

While Naruto and Sasuke were busy bickering at each other, Konohamaru approached Sakura.

"Hello, pretty lady," Konohamaru said, smiling, "What's your name?"

_Is this kid trying to flirt with me?_Sakura asked with a sweatdrop. "Sakura Haruno," she replied with an emotionless face.

"Wow! I know you!" Konohamaru jumped around excitedly, "You rank just after Sasuke, don't you? Wow, you're perfect! The looks, the brains, _and_the skills!"

Sakura just sweatdropped. _I feel like this little kid stalked me or something._

"Konohamaru! Get your hands off _my_teammate!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke glared at the kid in agreement.

"She's _your_teammate?" he asked, Naruto nodded.

Konohamaru went near Naruto and whispered, "Is she your girlfriend?"

How could he be whispering when Sasuke and Sakura both heard it?

Naruto smiled slyly, "Maybe…"

Sasuke scoffed.

"No, I'm not," said Sakura, veins popping out of her forehead.

Sasuke smirked.

"Too bad, Naruto," Konohamaru said, "She's really pretty too."

"Why you little—!" Naruto said, already chasing after Konohamaru.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other and then sweatdropped.

"Should we go after them?" Sakura asked him.

"Hn," he said.

They walked side-by-side to go find their knucklehead teammate and his little friend.

* * *

><p>Konohamaru was busy running from Naruto, he didn't even look where he was going!<p>

He found himself bumping into some tall guy wearing all black, and had make-up on his face.

Naruto caught up with Konohamaru and wondered who he bumped in to.

The guy picked Konohamaru up by the collar and said, "Hey kid, that kind of hurt."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, "Put Konohamaru down!"

The guy merely looked at Naruto and chuckled.

A girl with blonde hair and four ponytails went near the guy and said, "Kankuro, don't cause any trouble…"

"But this kid bumped into me!" the guy named Kankuro said, "I'm going to go have a little fun…"

"Hey, mind putting the kid down?" a male voice said coming from a tree above them.

Naruto looked up to find Sasuke and Sakura sitting on a branch of the tree.

_That guy up there's kinda cute,_the blonde girl—whose name happened to be Temari—thought to herself.

"Sasuke! Sakura! How long have you guys been up there?" Naruto asked.

"Long enough," Sakura stated as she somersaulted off the tree, landing on the ground next to Naruto.

Sasuke merely jumped off the tree and landed next to Sakura.

Kankuro studied the three in front of him. When his gaze landed on Sakura, he put the kid down and ran to her.

"Hey there, my little exotic beauty," Kankuro said and winked at her.

Sakura sweatdropped while the boys beside her glared at the guy who was trying to flirt with her.

"May I ask what your name is?" he said to her taking her hand.

"Sakura Haruno," she said, still a little dazed.

"What a pleasure." Kankuro said attempting to place a kiss on Sakura's hand when someone showed off from behind him.

"Kankuro, _what_are you doing?" a boy who had red hair and sea-blue eyes said to them. The weird thing was he had no eyebrows.

"Gaara," Kankuro said stepping away from Sakura, but not after giving a wink.

Sakura felt like puking.

The little red head freak—I mean, Gaara turned over to the three genin and studied one carefully—that one happened to be Sasuke. "You," he said pointing at him, "what is your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," he calmly replied.

Gaara's gaze then turned over to Sakura, _Hmm…I've seen her before._ He thought to himself. "What about you?" he said motioning to Sakura.

"Sakura Haruno," she said, expressionless.

"I see," he said turning to the other two.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto called out, "Aren't you gonna ask _my _name?"

Gaara turned at the kid who called out to him, "Not likely."

Naruto cried with anime tears.

"Let's go Kankuro, Temari," Gaara said.

The blonde girl—Temari turned at Sasuke and gave a flirt-like wave. Sasuke just gave an annoyed look and turned to Sakura who seemed completely oblivious at what just happened.

And it hit her.

"Wait a second," Sakura said, calling their attention, "You guys are from the Sand Village, right? Why are you here?"

"The chunin exams," Temari said holding up a pass, "they're being held soon here."

Sakura nodded and then turned and walked away. Sasuke and Naruto followed, Naruto was still muttering about no one asking for his name, though.

The Sand Siblings watched the three walk away.

"Odd bunch," said Temari.

"They're kinda interesting, especially that pink-haired one…she's really pretty, isn't she?" Kankuro mused. This earned him a thump on the head, courtesy of Temari.

Gaara just smirked, _the chunin exams sure will be interesting…_

"So, I've signed you three up for the Chunin exams," Kakashi said.

Naruto was jumping up and down like a wild monkey who didn't get his snack, "All right! The Chunin exams! This is gonna be so exciting!"

Sasuke was smirking, _finally some__**real**__action._

Sakura held no emotion whatsoever but Kakashi knew that she was excited.

Kakashi 'poofed' away *ahem*forgetting to mention the fact that if one of them didn't join the Chunin exams, then none of them could*ahem*.

"Hey guys! Aren't you just so excited? The Chunin exams! Can you believe it?" Naruto kept yapping on and on and on about how great it was while jumping up and down like a deranged kangaroo.

Sasuke and Sakura were just smirking at each other, partly because of their teammate and partly because they were anxious.

The three said their goodbyes and each took off on their own direction home.

_All right! I'm gonna ace the Chunin exams, believe it! _

_Hn. Whoever's against us won't know what hit them._

_Am I really ready for this?_

* * *

><p>The three entered the building where the chunin exams were supposed to be held.<p>

It was mentioned that the chunin exams were at the third floor, so the three made their way up the stairs. They only went up one flight of stairs and they noticed that there was a crowd of genin waiting near a sign that said, 'third floor'.

The three were about to approach when Sakura felt something weird, there was chakra everywhere! This was like the time she was trapped in that genjutsu which Kakashi put her in…

..._hey, that's it!_

Sasuke noticed it a few seconds after Sakura. Sasuke looked at Sakura and asked, "Hey Sakura, do you see it?" He said it loud enough for all the genin in the room to hear, they started to listen.

"Yup, I saw it a few seconds ago," she replied.

"What?" Naruto asked, completely confused, "Saw what?"

"There's genjutsu in this hallway," Sakura simply stated.

"This is the second floor, not the third," Sasuke continued.

"Wait—what?" Naruto asked them. Sasuke and Sakura just gave him annoyed looks.

When they said that, the sign that said 'third floor' immediately transformed back into 'second floor'.

Everyone was shocked that these three noticed it and none of them did.

The three were about to make their way up the stairs when another team stopped them…

"You two." A boy with pearl-colored eyes and long brown hair pointed to Sasuke and Sakura, "what are your names?"

Naruto felt depressed. Again. "He didn't bother to ask for my name…" he muttered to himself, sulking in a dark corner.

"Aren't you supposed to say your name first before you ask someone else's?" Sasuke replied, annoying the heck out of that boy, "It's common courtesy."

_That guy's kinda cute_, Tenten—the brown-haired girl with two buns on her head thought to herself.

Sakura wanted to laugh, but she felt someone grab her hand out of nowhere.

It was another guy with a bowl-cut and a weird green spandex jumpsuit. "Hello, fair maiden," the weird guy said, "I am Rock Lee, the handsome devil of the leaf village."

Sakura looked at Naruto and Sasuke for help. Naruto rushed over to the scene and Sasuke followed suit, glaring.

"Hey, hey, hey, buddy," Naruto said, taking Sakura's hand from Lee's, "You don't just come in and grab someone's teammate's hand without permission!"

Sakura sweatdropped. Again.

Lee hesitantly took his hand away and smiled at Sakura. "May I ask what your name is?"

"Sakura Haruno…" she replied.

"Sakura! A name as beautiful as the face that beholds it!" Lee cried out, "Would you be my girlfriend? I swear to protect you with my life!" He smiled widely and thumbs up-ed.

"What the heck?" Naruto blurted out.

Sasuke merely hardened his glare at the weirdo.

"Um…sorry, Lee…but I'd have to…um…reject that offer…" Sakura said, nervously.

Was she hallucinating or did the faces of the other males in the room get brighter…filled with _hope?_

Lee looked like he was about to commit suicide when Sakura said, "I mean…it's not you…I'm just not looking for a boyfriend right now…"

The room got darker, tenser…or was that all in her head too.

"Say no more!" Lee shouted, "I will wait for you my star-studded angel!" He proclaimed with a big smiled on her face.

"Lee, you're scaring her," the very same boy with pearl eyes stated calmly, "I'm Neji Hyuga." He reached out his hand for Sakura to shake and she shook it.

Naruto and Sasuke were already so annoyed. (But Sasuke, being the ice cube that he is, was great in hiding it.)

"Okay, okay, we've gotta get going!" Naruto said, completely fed up with all the men making googly-eyes at _his_teammate.

He held Sakura's arm and pulled her away, leaving the rest of the genin there, dumbfounded.

"You coming, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as Sasuke calmly walked after them. But not after giving a glare to anyone who dares come near Sakura.

They make their way up the stairs and down the hall. They come near a white door where they came face-to-face with…their teacher, Kakashi.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said, "w]What are you doing here?"

"When I told you about the chunin exams yesterday I forgot to tell you one tiny, little detail," Kakashi said.

The three looked/glared at him, and waited for him to continue.

"To participate in the chunin exams, you've got to be a team of three," Kakashi stated.

"But we are!" Naruto said.

Kakashi looked at his team, all ready and raring to go for it. He looked so proud of them, "Good luck, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. And remember, teamwork is a must. "

And with that, he 'poofed' away.

Sasuke and Sakura each took a handle of the door and opened it.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**Start Your Engines: The Chunin Exam Begins!**

_"...aww, Sasuke..."_

_"...if I catch you cheating, you'll be thrown out of the exams..."_

_"...I've got to help Naruto..."_

_"...they're gonna kill me..."_

_"...you can copy my paper..."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER TWELVE: REVISED!<strong>_

_**By: SasuSakuLove410.:)**_

Thanks for reading! And thanks for editing, SasuSakuLove410!

-Kat11992:)


	13. The Chunin Exam Begins!

**Start Your Engines: The Chunin Exam Begins!**

**Disclaimer:**_**I don't own Naruto...never did, never will.**_

* * *

><p>Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were standing inside the waiting room, anxiously waiting for the chunin exams to begin.<p>

Everything was pretty quiet, until they heard a familiar (and annoying) voice scream out, "Ooh! Sasuke-kun!"

And before you know it, Ino Yamanaka was right beside Sasuke, gripping his arm as if her life depended on it. She was rubbing her cheek on his arm as an attempt to flirt with him.

"Hi Sasuke," Ino said (flirtingly), "Did you miss me? 'Cause I missed you."

The annoyed, disgusted expression on Sasuke's face was way too impossible to miss.

"So you guys are here too? What a drag," they heard Shikamaru's lazy voice from beside Ino.

"Hey-*chomp*-guys!" Choji said while continuously gorging himself on chips.

"Hey Shikamaru! Choji!" Naruto exclaimed, "You guys came too?"

"H-h-hi N-na-naruto," said a timid voice from behind.

Naruto turned to its source to find Hinata Hyuga standing there blushing as read as a tomato.

"Oh, hi Hinata, Kiba, Shino! You guys too?" Naruto said to them, "Are you okay, Hinata? You're a little red."

Naruto was coming closer to Hinata, and when he was only inches away from her face…

THUMP!

Hinata fainted.

"Oh oh oh my gosh!" Naruto cried, apologetic, "I'm so sorry! I don't know what I did though, but I'm still sorry!"

Kiba came up and picked up Hinata, "Hinata! Wake up!" And he vigorously kept shaking her.

After a few seconds, Hinata came back to her senses, "Wha-what's happening?" she said, still a little dazed.

Before Kiba could answer, a loud (terrifying) voice from the room cried out, "Hey! Keep it down over there, rookies!"

This was when the Rookie Nine looked around and found that they were amongst a sea of other competitors who were participating in the exams as well.

And gosh, did they look horrifying!

"H-h-how many people are participating, again?" Ino stuttered out, still clinging onto Sasuke's arm.

No one dared to answer.

"All right!" Naruto exclaimed, "_This_is what I call a challenge!"

"Naruto, shush!" Sakura tried to tell him, but he continued anyway.

He stepped up and faced the whole crowd of participants while pointing a finger at them, "Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm gonna beat the crap out of all of you! Believe it!"

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped.

"We're gonna get 'cha, kid!" one participant exclaimed, "Just you wait!"

_He's gonna have our team killed, _Sakura thought.

"All right, all right, settle down," a man with a scar on his eye said, "I'm Ibiki Morino and I will be your proctor for the first part of the exams."

Ino—finally—let go of Sasuke and the Rookie Nine assembled with their teammates.

* * *

><p>"This is how the exam will go," Ibiki explained, "Each person will get a number and that number corresponds to where you will sit during the exam."<p>

The genin lined up to receive their numbers, and the proctor suddenly dramatically said, "By the way, this will be a written exam."

"A WRITTEN EXAM?" Naruto exclaimed. _Oh god, I'm terrible at written exams, _He thought, _Uh-oh._

_Poor Naruto,_Sakura thought, _written exams aren't exactly his forte._

When everyone got their numbers and took their designated seats, the proctor explained some more, "All right, so each one of you will take an individual exam and when you've finished, we will add up your scores with your teammates' scores. You must get a passing score over thirty to be able to finish the exam. Oh, and if one teammate fails to answer even one question correctly, the whole team will fail!"

"What?" Naruto exclaimed—again.

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened. _Oh no._

_What am I gonna do? _Naruto thought, _Sasuke and Sakura are gonna kill me!_

Images of Sasuke and Sakura with flashing red eyes appeared on the back of his mind.

"By the way," the proctor said, "Do you see the Chunin surrounding you? They'll be watching you like a hawk. If one of them catches you cheating, the corresponding points will be subtracted from your score. And if they've caught you cheating thrice, you will be sent out with your teammates."

_WHAT THE HECK? _Naruto thought, _I'm gonna dieeee!_

"And one more thing," the proctor said, "After twenty minutes, I will give out the tenth question. And it is your decision if you should answer it or not."

"Ready," the proctor said, "begin." And this signalled the first part of the exam to begin.

_There's something weird going on here,_Sasuke thought, _why are there so much ninja watching us to see if we cheat? It seems like they're more concerned with the ninjas cheating more than the actual exam._

Sasuke studied the test paper, _These questions...no ninja, not even me, could answer these questions without cheating. _

...

_That's it! This isn't a test of how much a ninja know; it's a test to see how well a ninja can gather information! To put it simply, we _have _to cheat._

Sasuke looked around for Sakura; he knew that she wouldn't need to cheat because she knew all the answers. But to his surprise, Sakura wasn't moving a muscle.

_Hn,_Sasuke thought, _what is Sakura waiting for?_

This could be his chance! Sasuke turned on his Sharingan, so that when Sakura begins, he'd be able to copy her movements—in this case, her answers.

Sakura felt a familiar chakra focused on her. _So Sasuke figured it out, eh?_She thought, _Finally! I've been waiting for him to turn it on so he could copy me!_

And with that, Sakura began to write down her answers. Sasuke following suit.

But oh, we forgot about our favorite knucklehead ninja, didn't we?

So Naruto was stuck there, panicking like an idiot and sweating like a pig.

_Should I cheat? _Naruto thought. _I need to cheat! But, if I get caught, it's all over for me! ARRGH, why is this so difficult?_

Sasuke and Sakura were soon finished with the whole exam. All they were waiting for was the tenth question.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, and then at Naruto's paper.

_He still didn't answer anything._He thought, _Sakura and I__ are so dead. It's not that hard to figure out, you idiot! Just cheat! _He then imagined himself strangling Naruto to death with his own hands if they don't pass this stage of the exams.

Sakura looked at Naruto's shaking form.

_What can I do to help him? _Sakura thought, _We're all gonna lose if he doesn't cheat soon. But Naruto doesn't have the Sharingan like Sasuke does...and I can't communicate with him. Oh, for heaven's sake, just cheat!_

Naruto was just sitting there, staring at his blank piece of paper. _WHAT AM I GONNA DO?_

"Psst. Uh, N-na-naruto," a voice whispered from beside him.

He looked over to find Hinata there, "Oh, hi Hinata." He whispered, "I didn't even see you there."

"W-w-were you able t-to answer a-any-th-thing?" Hinata asked.

In response, Naruto turned pale and shook his head.

"You-you can copy m-m-my answers," she whispered, while turning red, "if you-you w-want."

"Really?"

Hinata nodded.

"Thanks, Hinata!" he whispered.

He leaned in for the first answer and...

CHING!

A kunai was thrown in between him and Hinata, and had hit the desk of the boy behind them.

"You," the proctor said, "number twenty-three, you're out. You've been caught cheating."

"Wh-what?" the boy said, trying to cover himself up, "I-I didn't—"

"Just get out and take your teammates with ya," said a chunin from the sidelines.

The boy stood up, along with two other boys and they left the room immediately.

Naruto's eyes were as big as saucers; he thought that they had caught him.

"Psst," Hinata said, "U-um, Naruto…"

"It's okay, Hinata," Naruto said, his bangs covering his eyes. "I'm going to answer this test and pass it fair and square! No cheating! Believe it!"

Hinata was concerned for him. But she knew he would do this alone, that's just how stubborn Naruto was.

_I still have hope,_Naruto thought as he gulped, _the tenth question._

"Time for the tenth and final question," Ibiki said, glancing from the clock and to the class.

Everyone looked up from whatever they were doing.

"Alright, before we begin, I would like to ask if any of you would like to back out of answering the question," the proctor told them.

"W-why?" one of the genin asked, "Is the question really _that_hard?"

"No," the proctor replied, "I would just like to clarify that if you answer this final question wrong, you fail the chunin exams and you, as well as your whole team, are never allowed to take this test again."

The proctor looked around and saw the beads of sweat on the genin's foreheads, along with some nervous faces and determined ones. He didn't fail to notice Naruto who had his eyes and jaw wide open in shock.

_Oh no, Naruto…_ Sakura thought to herself.

_Damn it, Naruto!_Sasuke thought, completely annoyed.

The proctor grinned evilly and said, "Those who would like to back out please raise your hand and exit the room _immediately_—along with your teammates."

A couple of the genin had raised their hands and left the room leaving the rookie nine, Team Guy, and the Sand Siblings as well as a few more teams inside.

"Is that it?" the proctor asked, "Are there any more who would like to back out?"

_Okay…so if I quit, I fail and I could try again,_Naruto thought, _but if I don't quit, I can never take the exams ever again! Not to mention the fact that Sasuke and Sakura are gonna kill me! They've worked so hard to get here; I can't let them down…_

Naruto was beginning to raise his right hand.

_No! Naruto! _Sakura screamed in her mind.

_Naruto! I'm gonna kill you if you raise your hand any further! _Sasuke thought, and glared at Naruto's shaking figure.

Ibiki noticed Naruto's hesitance and asked him, "So, you're gonna quit?"

Naruto didn't look up as he raised his hand.

_Heh, and I thought this guy was a tough one…_the proctor thought.

Suddenly, Naruto slammed his palm back on his desk—loud and firm, I may add.

"I'm never gonna quit!" Naruto blurted out, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna answer that question! Believe it!"

Sakura smiled and Sasuke smirked. Their teammate has got a lot of guts, but they were quite scared, too.

"So that's it?" the proctor asked, "No more?"

No one made the slightest movement; the proctor took this as a 'yes'.

"All right, to the remaining few here, I would like to say something that is of great importance," he continued, "You all…"

(insert dramatic pause)

"…pass!" he said.

Naruto was raising his arms up and down like a maniac, "Yay! I passed! I passed! Believe it! Wait—what?" He finally caught on that he hadn't even answered a question yet.

"Wait, I don't get it," Ino said, "What's the question?"

"The question was whether or not you want to continue with the exam," Ibiki explained, "And you all pass."

Everyone in the room blinked.

"You see," the proctor explained further, "As a Chunin, you have greater responsibilities to be thrown at you and one must be ready to face them head on."

"And if you don't, well, let's just say it could cause you _everything_."

Naruto gulped, _everything?_

"I'm proud to say that you have all passed and—"

The proctor was cut off because a giant banner had flown through the glass window along with a lady with dark blue hair and a ponytail.

"Hello maggots!" the lady said too enthusiastically, "I'm Anko and I'm gonna be your proctor for the next part of the exams!" She did a thumbs up and grinned, here.

The previous proctor popped out from behind the banner with an irritated expression on his face, "Anko, you're early…again." He muttered.

"Wow," Anko said as she studied the room filled with genin, "Your tests must be getting easier, there are a whole lot of faces around here."

"Maybe it's because we have a strong batch this year," he said.

"All right, you maggots," Anko said, jumping onto the window sill of the window she broke, "follow me and we'll head over to the destination for the next part of the exams!"

She then jumped off the window and headed over to the venue.

The remaining genin stood up from their seats and took off.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**The Forest of Death**

_"...hand over the scroll and you won't get hurt..."_

_"...no! stay away...!"_

_"...what do you want from us...?"_

_"...what am I gonna do...?"_

_"...hand him over..."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>SHOULD SASUKE GET THE CURSEMARK?<strong>_

_**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: REVISED! :)**_

_**By: SasuSakuLove410**_


	14. The Forest of Death

**The Forest of Death**

**Disclaimer:**_**How many times do I have to tell you that I do NOT own Naruto? :)**_

* * *

><p>The remaining genin for the Chunin exams gathered around at the venue for the second part of the exams. It was a large forest with large trees and profound vegetation, surrounding it was a large fence with more than sixteen gates; standing firmly on the center of the forest was a tall tower designed to look like a castle.<p>

"All right maggots," Anko said, cutting everyone's thoughts and turning their attention to her, "Welcome to the forest of death!"

"Th-the forest…of d-death?" Naruto echoed nervously.

"Yes, now if you would gladly shut up, I would like to explain the objective of the second part of the exams." Anko said, plainly.

When she didn't hear a peep out of anyone anymore, she began to explain. "Listen up, maggots, I will only say this once," she said in a deadly tone.

She held up two scrolls, a white one and a dark brown one, "Each team will get either one of these scrolls—the heaven or the earth," she began, "the objective of the test is for you to find the other scroll by gaining it from another team. Is that part clear?"

She could see almost everyone nod.

"So," Sakura said, "After this test, only half of the teams standing here or even less are gonna make it through to final test."

"That's right," said Anko, "but don't forget this _is_a forest. Who knows what else you'll find in there?"

"Wild animals," said Sasuke, nonchalantly, "There's a big chance that there would be creatures trying to attack you as well."

"That too," said Anko, "Plus, there are a few rules and disqualifications."

"What do you mean?" asked Ino.

"The first rule is that you are not allowed to open the scroll that you have," she replied, "You're only allowed to open it once you have accessed the other scroll and you have reached the tower."

"You can also get disqualified if one of your teammates is not able to make it to the castle with you. For instance, your teammate get slaughtered or killed or something…you fail this exam too."

A few people grimaced.

Then, Anko brought out a piece of paper and said, "One more thing. Before you begin this exam, I expect you to sign this sheet of paper."

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Oh," Anko said, nervously, "It's just a waiver, you know…just in case you…die or something. I'm not gonna be held responsible or anything…"

Everyone sweatdropped.

She then distributed the waivers to everyone. "So, wait here and sign," she said, "I'll give you guys a signal when it's time to receive your scrolls. After that, choose a gate. This is where you will enter the forest."

Naruto and the others got their waivers and Anko left to make preparations.

* * *

><p>Team Seven was currently sitting down behind some rocks and reading over the waiver that Anko had given them. Well, Sasuke and Sakura were while Naruto lazily rolled around on the grass.<p>

"Hey, aren't you guys a little nervous for this?" Naruto asked them.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other then back at Naruto.

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Well," Naruto said, "We might get killed and stuff so…"

"Relax, would you, dobe?" Sasuke said, "It's not like it's _that_hard anyway."

"True," said Sakura, "All we have to do is take the other scroll from some other team, right?"

"Y-yeah..." Naruto said. _Damn it! How could they stay so cool like that? _

"All right, maggots," Anko's loud voice was heard, "You are now allowed to go behind the curtain and receive your scroll."

"Yes!" Naruto yelled as he stood up.

Sasuke and Sakura stood up as well.

Naruto brought his hand down in front of Sasuke and Sakura and said, "Go Team Seven!"

His two teammates just looked down at his hand, confused.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"You just put your hand there, you know," Naruto said, completely failing to explain.

"Oh," said Sakura as she placed her hand on Naruto's. This little action made Naruto blush like a madman.

"Tch," Sasuke looked away and placed his hand on top of Sakura's (probably to hide his blush).

"Let's go team Seven!" Naruto cried out again which made Sakura raise an eyebrow and Sasuke smirk.

* * *

><p>"Oh yeah! We got a heaven scroll!" Naruto said out loud, as he looked down at the scroll Sakura was holding.<p>

"Not so loud, you dobe," Sasuke said, "They might hear us."

"Oops!" Naruto whispered, "Sorry…"

* * *

><p>They made their way to their gate, they had picked a random one…or Naruto picked a random one, gate twelve.<p>

Each of them was anxiously waiting for the gates to fly open any minute.

GRRRRRRR.

"What the heck was that?" Sakura asked.

"My stomach…" Naruto said faintly. "I'm so hungry! I could just die!" He then turned a little pale.

"Don't die, you dobe," Sasuke said, "We still need to pass these exams."

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted at Sasuke's lack of compassion.

Sakura felt a little pity for Naruto and reached into her weapon pouch. She brought out a delicious-looking rice ball and handed it to Naruto. "Here," she said.

Naruto stared at the rice ball for a minute and blinked, "For me?"

Sakura raised her eyebrow and nodded.

Naruto took it and wrapped his arms around Sakura in a bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, Sakura-chan!" he said, grateful.

"Na…ruto…" Sakura struggled through Naruto's arms.

Sasuke noticed this and glared at Naruto, "She can't breathe dobe. Put her down!"

"Whoops, sorry!" said Naruto again.

Naruto looked at the rice ball Sakura gave him, "It looks delicious! Where did you get this?"

"I made it," Sakura answered, nonchalantly.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at Sakura in surprise. _She can cook?_

"You- you can cook?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know," she said, "Try it and find out."

Naruto stared at it for a while and took a bite. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he started drooling. "This is the best rice ball I have ever tasted!" he cried out and hugged it to his chest.

Sasuke raised a brow and crossed his arms, "It's probably because you're hungry, dobe."

"No really," Naruto said, "try it, teme!"

He then shoved a piece into Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke started chewing and it's like a sensation in his mouth, his eyes widened in complete and utter shock. "It's…pretty good."

"Just pretty good?" Naruto cried out, "It's the best rice ball in the world!"

Sasuke silently agreed to his knucklehead teammate, but chose not to say anything.

"Th-thanks," Sakura said.

The ninjas who were guarding the gate started to unlock it while Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura took their ready positions.

"Ready?" Anko's voice could be heard throughout the whole forest, "Go!"

And this was when every ninja entered the forest of death.

Team Seven was going at a rather slow pace while entering the forest.

"Ah," Naruto said as he rubbed his stomach, "That rice ball sure was filling."

They sprinted a few feet before Naruto began to twitch unexpectedly, this did not go unnoticed by Sasuke or Sakura.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Sakura asked him.

Naruto laughed nervously, "I kinda need to go."

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped as Naruto positioned himself in front of a bush—right in front of Sakura!

Sakura turned around and shut her eyes in disgust, "Ew! Gross, Naruto!"

Sasuke kicked Naruto into a nearby tree, "Not in front of a girl, you dobe!"

"Ahhh!" said Naruto as he was flung into the tree.

After a few minutes, Naruto emerged from the trees finished with 'business'.

"Hey guys!" Naruto said, "That sure was refreshing."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him and looked at Sakura, who nodded.

Together, they each shot a kunai at this 'Naruto'.

This Naruto was able to dodge the two kunais without any difficulty. "What the heck?" he said, "Are you guys crazy? You could've killed me!"

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked him, his voice deadly.

"What are you talking about?" it replied, "I'm Naruto."

Sakura shot him a glare, "Wrong answer." She said.

This Naruto just acted all confused.

"Tch," Sasuke said, "Why is your weapon pouch on your left leg then? You _do_know that Naruto is right-handed."

Once Sasuke said this, Sakura used this as a distraction as she agilely took position behind the 'Naruto' and ran a kunai through his torso.

"Where's the real Naruto?" she asked him.

The ninja gasped from the wound and transformed back into a Rain ninja.

He tried to run but Sasuke and Sakura chased after him and they were right on his tail.

Sakura sensed Naruto's chakra somewhere in the bushes.

"Sasuke," she said.

Sasuke immediately understood and nodded.

While Sakura set off to free Naruto, Sasuke kept chasing the Rain ninja.

"Where are the others?" as usual, Sasuke cut to the chase, swiftly chasing the Rain ninja as he said this.

"I came here alone," said the ninja, gasping for breath as it began to disappear, "Big mistake."

He was gone.

Sasuke knew it was pointless to chase after him now and made his way to his teammates.

Sakura found Naruto all tied-up in ropes somewhere behind the bushes.

Naruto was trying to squirm himself free when he spotted Sakura. "Sakura-chan! Thank goodness! Help me!"

Sakura sweat-dropped and leapt over to Naruto. She promptly cut off all the ropes with her kunai and helped Naruto up to his feet.

At that moment, Sasuke came in and sat down next to them.

"Where's the rain ninja, Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked from Sasuke to Sakura, "What rain ninja?"

"Gone," he replied bluntly, ignoring Naruto.

"Gone? What do you mean?" Naruto asked again.

Sakura just shrugged.

Naruto crossed his arms and gave up.

"Anyways, we need a password," Sasuke said.

"What kind of password, teme?" Naruto asked.

"One that only the three of us know," he replied.

"Okay…so, what is it?" Naruto asked again.

"The question will be," Sasuke said, slowly and surely, "When does a ninja strike?"

"And…?" Sakura prompted.

"Listen carefully, 'cause I will only say this once." said Sasuke.

"The answer _must_be 'A ninja strikes when the time is right. When an enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night...that is the moment for a ninja to strike.' Got it?"

"Got it," Sakura said, almost immediately.

_No surprise there,_thought Sasuke, _what about…_

"Can you repeat the password?" Naruto asked while trying to process what Sasuke had just said.

"No," Sasuke said, "I said I'll only say it once."

"Well," said Naruto, "I was kinda thinking it was just gonna be a pass_word_not a pass-_speech_."

"If you've got a problem with it then—"

Sasuke was cut off by a huge explosion directed to them. Each one had jumped off in their own direction and had lost sight of one another.

Sakura spotted Sasuke behind a bush and started running to him.

"Sasuke," she said, calling his attention.

She wasn't surprised when Sasuke raised a kunai in defense.

"Wait. Don't come any closer. First, answer this question: when does a ninja strike?"

"Oh," said Sakura calmly, "A ninja strikes when the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike."

Sasuke dropped his weapon and calmed down, "Good."

Suddenly, they heard a rustle from the bushes and from it, emerged Naruto.

"Hey guys!" he said, almost too enthusiastically.

"Wait, don't come any closer!" Sakura said, "When does a ninja strike?"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto cried out, "A ninja strikes when the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike."

Sakura's eyes narrowed and Sasuke shot a kunai at him, who flawlessly dodged the weapon.

Sakura leapt over to where 'Naruto' was and held a kunai to his throat, "Do you _really_think our Naruto can memorize something like that?"

"I gotta say," Sasuke cut off, "Your transformation is much better than that last one. Just give us your scroll and we might take it easy on you."

Sasuke was surprised when the ninja chuckled.

"So...you saw through my guise..." the ninja said. Her voice velvety, yet deadly at the same time. There was something about it that makes you flinch whenever a word is uttered.

The imposter had transformed back into her natural form in the blink of an eye. It was a kunoichi from the Grass Village with long black hair, deep circles under her eyes, and a wide mouth with thin lips. The weirdest thing about her is that she had an abnormally long, slimy tongue.

She smiled, lustfully and then with all her strength, elbowed Sakura's stomach.

Sakura was flung into one of the horizontally bended branches. She hit her back brutally and then she fell on the ground, supporting herself with her palms.

"Sakura!" Sasuke cried out and ran to where his teammate was.

When he reached her though, Sakura had already positioned herself on her knees, glaring at the ninja before them.

The ninja chuckled, and the sound his voice made Sasuke and Sakura grimace, "You poor, pathetic little children. Hmm, thought you'd put up much more of a fight..."

And when Sakura and Sasuke looked it to her eyes...

...they became MORTIFIED.

In her eyes, they saw the next few minutes of the fight...

...they saw...

...THEIR OWN DEATH.

"Her eyes," Sasuke said to himself, "Filled with so much bloodlust. I practically saw my own death in them."

This was when he found out that he had no strength to move a single joint in his body.

_Why? Why can't I move?_He thought.

Little by little, he tried to look over to where Sakura was.

She was trembling.

"Sa-sakura," he said trying to move his head just enough to look at her.

"Y-yes, Sasuke?" she said, attempting the same thing.

"W-what do we d-do?" Sasuke replied, finding it harder to move by the second.

Sakura thought long and hard. _I'm absolutely terrified,_Sakura thought, _how do I overcome fear? _

The enemy ninja had already fired two kunais at them, if they didn't find out a way to dodge them soon, they would be dead.

Sakura forced her arm to extend out to retrieve her kunai on the forest floor, then brought it up to her side and...

"Arrgghh!" cried Sasuke in pain.

She stabbed Sasuke's leg, hoping that the pain would win over his fear.

Sasuke stood up, realizing only now that he could move freely again.

Without hesitation, Sasuke scooped Sakura into his arms, bridal-style and carried her away to take cover.

Sakura recovered almost immediately. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke!" she whispered worriedly, "It was the only—"

"You did what you had to," Sasuke said, trying to reassure her, "It's okay."

And Sakura did something that made Sasuke unable to breathe…

…she smiled.

It was the most genuine smile that Sasuke had ever seen.

_There it is…her smile. I remember promising that I'll see that smile again…does she remember me too?_

His thoughts were cut off because Sakura suddenly yelled out, "Sasuke, look out!"

A giant snake had arrived and lashed at the two with its fangs.

Sasuke jumped away to dodge, and Sakura had leapt skilfully onto another branch.

_Who was it after? _Sakura thought, as she observed the snake carefully.

She was appalled when the snake headed for Sasuke.

_Sasuke! Why is it after Sasuke? _Sakura asked herself.

Sasuke studied the snake, and he saw the same eyes that had terrified him only a few moments ago as it slithered towards him.

"No!" he cried out, "Stay away!" He threw shuriken at the snake's throat, killing him almost immediately.

The snake fell to the ground—dead.

Sakura jumped to the scene. "You did it," she told him.

They were about to walk away when a strange form started to emerge from the beast's back.

_Spoke to soon, Sakura. _Sasuke thought.

Slowly but sinisterly, it formed the body of the grass ninja that they had fought a while ago.

Sakura wasn't surprised that she slithered towards Sasuke again.

"Sakura, get out of here!" Sasuke yelled as he shoved Sakura away.

Sakura (thankfully) landed on her feet and said to Sasuke, "I'm not leaving you!"

Sasuke didn't have a chance to respond, and instead used his fire jutsu at the ninja.

She took cover by diving under some misplaced branches.

Sakura threw shuriken at the ninja, attempting to imitate Sasuke when he slaughtered the snake a while ago.

But this ninja was thinner, and in contrast, nimbler. She dodged Sakura's attack with no problem whatsoever.

"Persistent little lady, are you?" The ninja said, "Well then, let me give you a little present."

The ninja did a couple of handsigns and suddenly the beast that she had emerged from was brought back to life, it slithered over to Sakura and confined her with his body.

Sakura struggled to move and get out. "Argh!" she cried out when the snake squeezed her even tighter.

"Sakura!" Sasuke cried and tried to make his way over to her, but he was stopped by the rain ninja.

"I'm your opponent, remember?" the rain ninja said.

Sasuke looked over to Sakura who said, "It's okay! I can handle this!"

Sasuke didn't underestimate his teammate's ability to fight, and so he took his fighting stance against the ninja.

Then, a voice from one of the branches above was heard, "Hey guys! Sorry I'm late."

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, still struggling in the snake's clutches.

"What's that password again?" Naruto asked.

"Never mind the stupid password!" Sasuke cried out, annoyed.

Naruto looked over to Sakura and a worried expression immediately overcame his features, "Sakura! Wait, let me help you!"

He tried to leap over to her but another snake had crawled to Naruto and ensnared him too. "What the heck?" he cried.

The rain ninja chuckled as he stepped in front of Sasuke. "Those team mates of yours can't help now," he said.

Sasuke glanced over to his two team mates who were struggling to get out of the snake's entrapment.

"What do you want from us?" He asked.

And the rain ninja just laughed at him.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>**Sakura's Hidden Blossoms**

_"...so, this is the nine-tailed fox container, huh...?"_

_"...what do I do now...?"_

_"...come on and fight little girl..."_

_"...who did this to you...?"_

_"...you're amazing, Sakura...!"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER FOURTEEN: REVISED! <strong>_

_**By: SasuSakuLove410 **_

_**Sorry I've been taking so long, you guys! School's started and the first two weeks were already hectic! Nevertheless, I'm almost done revising the next few chapters and Kat11992 is almost done with the next chapter. :)**_


	15. Sakura's Hidden Blossoms

**Sakura's Hidden Blossoms**

**Disclaimer:**_** For the fifteenth time, I do NOT own Naruto, the anime/manga or any of its characters...**_

_**BEGIN!**_

* * *

><p>"What do you want from us?" Sasuke asked, desperate.<p>

The rain ninja just chuckled evilly at him as he brought out his earth scroll. "I know that you have the heaven scroll," he said, "and I know you would just love to get your hands on our precious earth scroll."

Sasuke twitched in disgust as the ninja before him swallowed the earth scroll whole. "It's just too bad, isn't it?" he asked, provoking Sasuke in the process.

Sasuke couldn't bring his body to move. He knew what he was dealing with and he was too terrified of the outcome.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's struggling voice cried out, "Move, you bastard!"

Sasuke looked over to Naruto and saw that he was still struggling against the snake's clutches.

"Fight me," the rain ninja said to Sasuke.

And Sasuke took in a ready position to fight.

* * *

><p>Naruto was struggling to get out of the snake's grasp and he stopped for a while to think of a plan.<p>

_I got it! _Naruto thought.

He struggled slowly to get his hands free from the snakes' hold. And when his hands were finally free, he made the hand sign that signaled the… "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!"

In an instant, a few dozen Narutos appeared out of nowhere and struggled beside him.

The snake was not long enough to trap all the Narutos that it gave up and slithered a few feet away.

The other Naruto's disappeared and Naruto called out to the beast, "Oi! I'm not done with you yet!"

The beast turned around and launched itself at Naruto.

Naruto simply dodged and threw kunais at the snake.

The snake was able to dodge them all, but he was so distracted that he didn't notice that Naruto had transformed into a bush beside it.

While the snake looked around for him, Naruto turned back into his human form and punched the snake's jaw with all the power he's got.

This left the snake dazed and unable to move, so Naruto took this chance to create more clones of himself and each one launched their kunais which cut off the snake's head for good.

"That should take care of him," said Naruto, triumphant and dusting himself off.

He looked around and noticed that his teammates were out of sight and that he was in a part of the forest where he never had been.

"Where the heck am I?" Naruto asked out loud and he ran away, trying to find his teammates.

* * *

><p>While Naruto was busy battling his snake, Sakura was struggling with hers.<p>

_My jutsus…_thought Sakura, _it's now or never! _

Sakura squeezed her hands out of the snake's hold and did some handsigns. "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!" she cried out and a huge fireball—much bigger than that of Sasuke's—came out of her mouth and hit the snake.

Due to the pain it felt, the snake had to let go.

Sakura jumped away from the snake and into a fighting position.

The snake launched itself at Sakura and she blocked it with her arms.

Again, it launched itself, but this time, it opened its mouth wide in an attempt to bite Sakura.

Sakura thought it was the best time to use another jutsu. Sakura quickly made some handsigns and said, "Earth style: Thorns of Death Jutsu!"

Before the beast could come any closer, vines started growing in and around the snake.

And when Sakura clenched her fists together, millions of thorns grew out of each vine. Pricking the beast in every scale in its body.

Blood poured out of the beast and it fell on the floor—dead.

Sakura successfully defeated the beast.

She made her way over to where Sasuke was who clearly needed help already.

* * *

><p>Sasuke had his Sharingan on and was on the ground, not even attempting to attack her.<p>

Naruto came out on one of the higher branches again, his eyes were somehow different. They were red-orange and deadly, not cerulean and gleaming with radiance.

The rain ninja came closer to Naruto who in turn, just glared daggers at the ninja.

"Hmm," said the rain ninja, "So _this _is the nine-tailed fox container, huh?"

She pinned him into a nearby tree and pulled his shirt up to reveal the seal on his stomach. She brought out her hand and each one of her fingers seemed to be glowing with fire. She grabbed Naruto by the hem of his shirt and placed his fingers on his stomach, surrounding the spiral seal that he once had. The impact knocked Naruto out and sent him falling into the unknown of the forest.

_He'll never survive that fall, _Sakura thought as she accurately launched a kunai to pin Naruto to a nearby tree and keep him there until the battle is over.

"Stop it!" Sasuke cried out, "It's the scroll you want isn't it?" Sasuke reached into his pocket and brought out the heaven scroll, "Take it! Take it and leave us in peace."

"No, Sasuke!" Sakura cried out.

"It's no use, Sakura," he told her, "we don't know what we're up against!"

Sasuke threw the scroll over to the rain ninja who had his palm open to receive it. But not before a flash of pink appeared between them, taking the scroll with it.

Sasuke and the rain ninja looked to their right and saw Sakura holding the scroll out. "You are _not _taking this scroll from us," she said.

The rain ninja chuckled again, "At least let me try."

Sakura placed it in her weapon pouch and readied her position to fight.

"Sakura!" Sasuke cried out again, "You don't know what you're up against!"

"Let me handle this Sasuke!" she told him, her tone reassuring.

Sasuke calmed a little down but couldn't help but feel a little worried for her.

Sakura made a few hand signs and cried out, "Water Style: Needle Entrapment Jutsu!"

From beneath the surface, several springs of water broke out and formed a long and sturdy rope. It went all around the rain ninja and trapped it in her grasp.

She made another hand sign and long needles pierced the body of the rain ninja. These came from the ropes that surrounded it.

When Sakura was sure it had wounded the rain ninja fatally, she made the rope disappear.

_That was amazing! _Sasuke thought, _Sakura…you're amazing! _

Sakura felt a little winded, she had used almost all of her chakra already. She fell to the ground exhausted.

It didn't make her feel any better when the figure she 'killed' melted into mud and the real ninja emerged from somewhere in the shadows.

Sakura couldn't find the strength to move anymore, so Sasuke ran over to help her get to her feet.

But while he was kneeling down though, the rain ninja came from behind him. Her face looked like it was 'melting' away as if it was a mask.

"Your sharingan is absolutely amazing," he said, "I would just like to…claim it for my own."

Before Sakura could warn Sasuke the rain ninja had turned into a snake and bit Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke cried out in agony and Sakura noticed a certain mark appear on his neck.

"What the-?" Sakura cried out, "What did you do to Sasuke?"

"I simply claimed him for my own," she/he said, "Those eyes…I must have them. Sooner or later Sasuke will seek me for power. I'll be waiting…" The rain ninja or whoever it was had disappeared into the trees of the forest.

Sakura was worried because Sasuke was still crying out in pain and had barely any strength to stand up. She was terrified when Sasuke collapsed onto her lap.

"Sasuke!" she cried.

She then looked over to Naruto who was hanging on with the kunai on his shirt. "Naruto! Please wake up! I need you!" she cried.

"I need you…" Sakura whispered to herself, "What do I do now?"

She looked up into the vegetation of the forest and pondered over what she should do next…

* * *

><p><em>(I wanted to end it there…but it was way too short for my taste…so I'll go on.)<em>

Sakura had to carry Naruto and Sasuke's bodies all by herself to a small opening under a tree. She thought that this would be the best place to hide while her teammates recover.

_I sure am beat, _Sakura thought, _I really hope no one comes and tries to take our scroll. I'm in no shape to fight. _

She looked over to her teammates who were unconscious. She became worried when Sasuke started shivering in his sleep.

Hesitantly, Sakura felt Sasuke's forehead with her hand and to her surprise, his temperature was high. Sasuke had a fever!

She took out a white cloth from her weapon pouch and wet it using Sasuke's water container, she then placed it on his forehead hoping that it would bring the fever down a little.

Sakura leaned back onto the tree and felt her eyelids drooping; she didn't even realize how sleepy she was! She attempted to keep her eyes open to guard her teammates, but drowsiness overpowered her.

_Sakura awoke because her head hit one of the branches of the tree. _

_She was relieved when she saw that Naruto started to stir and then open his eyes. _

"_Oh, hey Sakura," he said with a yawn. _

"_Hey Naruto," she said, "glad you finally woke up."_

_Sasuke sat up too, since he just woke up. _

"_So you finally decide to wake up, you bastard!" Naruto says, clearly trying to tease Sasuke. _

"_Hn," was Sasuke's reply as he was rubbing his eyes. _

"_Wait, how did we get here Sakura?" Naruto asked, "The last thing I remember was that creepy ninja guy…"_

"_You guys kinda passed out during the battle," she replied. _

"_So, you've been taking care of us this whole time?" he asked. _

_Sakura nodded. _

"_Gosh," Naruto said, a light pink tinting his cheeks, "Thanks Sakura." _

_Sasuke and Naruto started talking to each other and Sakura realized that she could not hear their voices at all._

'_Have I gone deaf?' she thought. _

_She was horrified when a giant snake came up from behind Naruto and Sasuke. _

_Sakura tried to speak and warn her teammates about the beast, but nothing would come out of her mouth. _

'_Am I mute too?' she thought. _

_The beast lunged forward, towards the three of them, and Sakura couldn't do anything but close her eyes. _

Sakura opens her eyes and she realizes that it was all a dream, and she sighs due to relief.

She hears footsteps from outside their hiding place and though very exhausted she crawls out.

There, in the center of the clearing were three Sound ninjas.

They look her way and spot her.

"Hey, you over there," one of them says, this one had short spiky hair and long metal bands on his arms, "do you know Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sakura thought it was best not to respond, and she just glared at the ninjas in front of her.

"Listen girlie, we don't have all day." Said the only female from the team.

"She knows him," said one with a mask covering his whole face and revealing only his eye, "She's his teammate."

"Ah," said the one with spiky hair, "you're the Haruno are you?"

Sakura still didn't respond. Man, if only looks could kill, they would have died on the spot due to Sakura's glare.

"Get up and fight me," he said, "I always want a competition."

Sakura wished she could, but she knew she had no chance since her chakra can't even supply for one jutsu.

The ninja came closer and closer, he was a good three feet away from her when a voice from above called out, "Don't lay a single finger on my beautiful cherry blossom!"

The ninja with a bowl-cut and green jumpsuit, Lee, came out of nowhere and stepped in front of Sakura with outstretched arms. "I vow to protect her with my life," Lee said, "I won't let you hurt her!"

"Such big words for a little ninja," his opponent said, "Fight with me then if you must."

Lee charged forth but was blown away by a strong wind that radiated from the Sound ninja's arm bands.

He was thrown back into a tree and was completely knocked out.

"Oh no, Lee!" Sakura cried out. _This is all my fault…_

"Listen, just hand over the Uchiha and we'll leave you be," the ninja said, "Come on."

Sakura didn't know what to do, her chakra levels were too low to fight. Maybe just a few more minutes and she could…

"Hand him over!" the Sound ninja said, frustrated already.

"Don't listen to a single word he says, Sakura!" said a different voice from the bushes.

Sakura looked over and spotted Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Choji being the one who called out to her the other time.

They stepped in front of Sakura and told her, "Let us handle these clowns, Sakura. Just take care of your teammates, kay?" _Typical Ino…_

Sakura thought that if they engage in a battle, she might just have enough time for the chakra recovery jutsu!

Sakura just nodded, she them Indian-sat in a corner and made a handsign. While closing her eyes, green chakra started glowing from all around her body.

She drowsed of a little. The more relaxed you are, the more this jutsu can recover.

"_Hiroshi! What are you doing?" A little girl with short pink hair called out to her older brother. _

_Her older brother was sitting in a corner and there was green chakra illuminating from all over his body. _

_His concentration broke due to Sakura and when he saw her, he smiled at her. "It's called the chakra recovery jutsu, Saki." _

"_The what?" she asked._

"_The chakra recovery jutsu," he said, "Dad taught it to me before he died." _

"_Can you teach it to me, big brother?" she asked._

_Hiroshi laughed and told her to sit beside him. _

_Sakura mimicked Hiroshi's sitting position and he told her to copy his handsign. _

_Sakura copied his handsign perfectly, but nothing happened. _

"_What's wrong, Hiroshi?" she asked, "Nothing's working." _

"_You've got to be focused little sis," he replied, "Actually, the more relaxed you are, the more your chakra recovers." _

_They laugh at each other in the end. _

Sakura opened her eyes and she was back at the forest of death.

Team 10 was already having trouble and she knew they wouldn't be able to take it anymore.

She was quite thankful though, when she saw that they had knocked out Kin. The kunoichi of the team.

Sakura stood up, her pupils disappeared and her eyes glowed lime-green.

Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were wide-eyed when they saw her.

"Stand back," said Sakura, her voice was soft and deadly.

Team 10 backed away.

"So, you're finally gonna fight?" said one of the Sound ninja.

Sakura didn't respond and just did a couple of hand signs.

Then, the ground started to shake. While Sakura seemed unaffected, the rumbling was so strong, that even Ino's team had to hold onto something to hang on.

Suddenly, vines shot out of several parts of the ground and tangled the Sound ninjas in them.

"Let us go!" one of them cried.

Sakura didn't answer but she brought out her fist.

"What's that gonna do?" One asked mockingly, "Punch us to death?"

They shouldn't have said that. When Sakura clenched her fist, the vines around them had squished them tighter.

"Arrgh!" the two sound ninjas cried out.

Team 10 watched with wide eyes.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Choji said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh my god," Ino cried out, admiringly.

"Wouldn't expect anything less from her," Shikamaru said.

Ino and Choji looked at him like he was crazy.

"What?" Shikamaru asked defensively.

Choji just glared then got back to eating his chips and Ino held a smug face which Shikamaru just scoffed at.

This repeated for over five minutes and the ninjas couldn't handle it anymore.

"All right, all right," the one with spiky hair said, "you win. Let us down and we'll leave you in peace."

Sakura glared at them but let them down anyway. After all, Sakura wasn't one to kill people without reason.

Big mistake though, when Sakura let him down, he launched one of his huge sound waves at her and she crashed into one of the trees.

"Ouch!" Sakura cried as her orbs went back to their usual color and she held her head in pain.

"Sakura!" Team 10 called out.

"Sakura," said a calm voice from behind.

Sakura didn't notice the huge amounts of chakra eminating from beside her.

When she looked to her side, she saw Sasuke…nevermind, a different Sasuke. This Sasuke had tattoos all over his body and had a blood thirsty look in his eyes.

"Sa-sasuke?" Sakura asked, horrified, "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"Okay?" He said, "I feel better than okay, I feel _powerful. _So much power!"

"Sasuke, you're crazy!" she blurted out.

He just chuckled evilly and then he looked at her for the first time, his eyes widened when he saw how beaten and bruised up Sakura looked like and only one thought was in his mind: he was gonna kill whoever did this to his team mate.

"Who did this to you?" he asked.

"Wh-what?" she asked.

"Who did _that_ to you?" he asked again.

Before Sakura could answer, one of the sound ninja cut in and said, "That would be me."

Sasuke smirked and leapt over to him with such speed. He kicked him and punched him and cracked his bones.

All the ninja can do was yelp in pain and pass out.

"I'm gonna finish you up," Sasuke said evilly.

Team 10 was still there watching in horror.

"Shouldn't someone do something?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sasuke!" Ino cried out in worry.

Sakura couldn't take this. This wasn't Sasuke! This is too much. Without thinking, she jumped over to him and enveloped him in a hug.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stiffened at her touch.

"Don't do this Sasuke," she whispered, "this isn't you."

A tear unconsciously fell from Sakura's eye and this was what caused Sasuke to fall back to his normal state.

They were so exhausted; both of them fell to the ground. And Sakura had let go of Sasuke.

Unbeknownst to all who were there, two pairs of eyes were watching from afar.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>** Surviving the Cut: The Rookie Nine Together Again!**

_"...congratulations..."_

_"...we didn't expect this many of you to make it this far..."_

_"...we got the scroll...!"_

_"...i'll get the bigger one before any of them notice..."_

_"...don't tell Naruto..."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hey guys! After much deliberation, I decided to give Sasuke the cursemark! :) <em>**

**_Why? You'll find out as the story progresses! :) _**

**_And WILL SASUKE BETRAY THE VILLAGE? :O You'll just have to find out. ;)_**

**_I have a plot already...hee hee hee. :)_**

**_Thanks for reading, again! :)_**


	16. The Rookie Nine Together Again

**Surviving the Cut: the Rookie Nine Together Again!**

**Disclaimer:****_ I do NOT nor will I EVER own Naruto..._**

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to them, two pairs of eyes were watching the whole thing from the branches above.<p>

"That was so cool, Neji," Tenten said, amazed at everything that happened.

"Indeed," said Neji, "did you see the immense chakra from Uchiha?"

"Uh, for your info, I don't have the byakugan. So it was impossible for me to _see_ his chakra," replied Tenten in an as-a-matter-of-factly tone.

"Right," was all that Neji could say.

"Don't you think we should pick up our knocked out teammate over there?" Tenten asked, pointing to Lee who was unconscious any lying on the ground.

"Wait until those sound ninja leave," he replied.

Tenten nodded in understanding.

* * *

><p>Sakura and Sasuke were on the ground, panting. Obviously exhausted from what they had to go through.<p>

"Sasuke Uchiha," the only conscious one of the sound ninja said (apparently his name was Dosu), "You are much too powerful for us."

"You too, Miss Haruno," he said, turning to Sakura, "What you showed us was amazing."

"And take this," Dosu said, giving them their earth scroll, "to pardon my life."

Sasuke and Sakura just stared at the scroll and then back at Dosu.

"I await the day we meet again," he said, and he carried off his teammates to the unknown of the forest.

Ino stood up, breaking the silence, "That was…awkward."

Shikamaru and Choji nodded.

Sakura stood up and picked up the earth scroll. _We got it! _She thought.

Neji and Tenten jumped of the branch they were watching them from and went over to their teammate.

Tenten picked up Lee ever so gently and holding his shoulders...she shook him like crazy scolding him with phrases like, "Are you crazy?" or "This would have never happened if you waited for us you moron!"

Everyone just sweatdropped.

Lee opened his eyes, shaken from what Tenten just did to him but instead of turning to Tenten, he turned to Sakura.

"The lotus always blooms twice," Lee said to Sakura with his signature grin.

Sakura titled her head in confusion and then she nodded in understanding, "Thank you, Lee."

Sakura then turned to Team 10, "Thank you, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji."

"No problem, Sakura," Ino said with a grin.

"You're welcome," Choji said, munching on more chips, "Want some?"

"Please, it wasn't a drag at all," Shikamaru said.

Now everyone _had _to stare at Shikamaru.

"What?" Shikamaru said, defensive. Again.

"Well, we best get going," Tenten told them.

"Yes," Neji said, "We'd best be getting to the tower."

Sakura and Sasuke (already on his feet) nodded and Team Guy took off.

"We better leave too," said Shikamaru, only staring at Sakura.

"Bye Sakura!" Choji said.

"Buh-bye, Sasssukeeeee!" Ino said, flirting-ly.

And they too, took off.

Sasuke and Sakura shared a moment of eye contact.

"Thanks for stepping in when you could, Sasuke," Sakura said.

"Tch. It was no problem, really," he said, "Thanks for taking care of me and Naruto."

_Now that was completely out of character…_Sakura thought.

"You're my teammates," She said with a smile that is only seen by him and Naruto, "I don't really mind."

"Sa-sakura…" Naruto said with a snore.

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped.

"After all _that_, he's still asleep?" he asked her, clearly teasing him.

Sakura had to giggle at that remark.

Naruto suddenly sat up, "What, what? What happened?"

Sasuke and Sakura just stared at him like he was crazy.

"What?" he asked them with a goofy grin on his face. He then stood up and threw his fist in the air, "Let's go get that earth scroll!"

Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Actually, About that…" Sakura said, trying to explain, "We already got it."

"Oh," Naruto blinked then yelled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE GOT IT?"

* * *

><p>It took a great deal of time trying to explain to Naruto what had happened while he was out.<p>

"So you mean I missed all the action?" Naruto asked, completely disappointed.

"Sorry, Naruto," replied Sakura.

"Well, if you weren't such a heavy sleeper, you would have heard us you know," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"What did you say, bastard?" Naruto said.

"Tch, I'm way too tired to argue with you, loser." Said Sasuke.

"Why you—" Naruto was cut off because his stomach rumbled, loud.

"Hey guys, can we stop for a minute?" Naruto asked, "I'm kinda hungry."

Sasuke sighed.

Sakura spotted a river and they decided that they would rest there a while.

After Sasuke and Sakura set up a fire, they decided to catch some fish so that they could cook them over the fire.

"All right!" Naruto yelled out, "I'm going to catch some fish, believe it!" He then took his shirt and pants off and jumped into the river.

For endless minutes he chased the fish, trying to catch them with his hands.

Sakura on the other hand thought of a different way to catch her fish. She took a long string and picked out a small rock from the bedside. She tied the string onto the rock. When a fish jumped out of the water, she quickly threw the rock with the string still attached to it. The string was able to wrap around the fish thanks to the rock, and Sakura pulled it to shore.

"Got one," said Sakura, holding out the fish on the string.

"Pretty crafty," commented Sasuke, "My turn."

When Sasuke saw two fish leap out of the water, he hit them with two of his kunai. It was accurate enough to hit the fish on their bellies.

Sasuke smirked. "Look Naruto, I only got two," he said sarcastically, "you're doing such a great job catching some fish for us."

Naruto glared and pointed angrily at him, "Why don't you be the one to jump into the water, bastard?"

"I never told you to jump in the water, idiot," Sasuke retaliated, matter-of-factly.

"Why you—"

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa." Sakura said, cutting Naruto off, "Let's go cook the fish before you two start killing each other."

They sat in a circle near the fire waiting for the fish to be cooked.

_Heh heh heh, maybe I should be quick and grab the biggest one while they're not looking…_Naruto thought to himself.

"Fish is done," said Sakura

And when Naruto heard that he grabbed the biggest fish out of the three and bit it hungrily. Truthfully, he ate like a hobo who hadn't eaten in a year.

Sasuke and Sakura just stared at the poor boy.

"Probably eats nothing but ramen," Sasuke muttered before biting his own fish.

Naruto gave a hard glare, but continued eating anyway.

After they were done eating, they decided that it was high time they get going to reach the tower.

Before they left Sasuke examined his water container, it was empty.

"I'm…gonna get some water," he told his teammates before he left.

Naruto was happy to get some alone time with Sakura.

"So, Sakura," Naruto said, "what happened to that creepy guy we fought?"

Sakura didn't know what to answer. What was she supposed to say? _Oh, that man bit Sasuke's neck which made Sasuke turn into some power-hungry imbecile and then he left. Oh, by the way, his name's Orochimaru. _

"Who knows?" replied Sakura. She thought that it was the safest answer.

Naruto studied Sakura's face, not sure if he should believe her or not. But since Sakura's face has always been so hard to read, he just shrugged and said, "Well, I'm glad none of you guys got hurt."

And this was what made Sakura smile.

* * *

><p>Team Seven was already making their way towards the castletower, jumping from branch to branch.

Thank goodness they haven't encountered any enemies for now. It's been thirty minutes since they've first started to take off.

"How far are we from the castle?" Naruto asked/whined.

"A good 1.5 kilometers," Sakura replied.

Sasuke and Naruto glanced at her, questioningly. _How did she know that?_

"What?" she asked.

And they both just shook it off.

When they were a good 12 feet away, they heard someone emerging from the forest. Hesitantly, they took in their fighting positons.

"Whoa, whoa. Relax now," a voice said, "I'm not here to take your scroll."

A guy with silver hair in a ponytail and huge circular glasses stepped out and smiled at them.

"You're that guy that carries cards with information about everyone, right?" asked Sasuke.

"My, my, am I that famous?" he asked, "Kabuto Yakushi, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Nice to meet you, Kabuto," said Sakura, "but we really should get to the tower."

"And I'm in the presence of a beautiful lady," Kabuto smirked, "Charmed, I'm sure."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion while Sasuke and Naruto sent him death glares as if saying _'Touch her and you die.'_

"Anyways, we really better get going," said Naruto while stepping in front of Sakura.

Sasuke and Naruto were already starting to walk away.

"Nice talking to you," said Sakura before dashing after her teammates.

_She's cute. _Kabuto thought, _pity I'd have to kill her sometime in my life._

* * *

><p>When they finally stepped inside the castle, Naruto breathed a sign of relief.<p>

"It's over!" Naruto cried in triumph, "We did it! We did it! Woohoo!"

Sasuke and Sakura just stood there watching as Naruto danced like a deranged idiot.

Sasuke noticed some sort of message or writing on the wall and pointed to it. "What is that?" he asked.

"It's some sort of message," replied Sakura, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried reading it as a whole.

As Sakura read the whole message out loud, Sasuke and Naruto listened.

"What the heck does that mean?" asked Naruto.

"It seems like there's a word or a phrase missing," said Sakura once she finished reading.

"Hn," said Sasuke, "Do you think we should open the scrolls?"

Sakura nodded.

"Hey loser," said Sasuke as he called Naruto, "Where are the scrolls?"

Naruto reached into his weapon pouch and pulled out the two scrolls, "Here they are!"

He handed the Earth scroll to Sasuke and he held the heaven scroll.

They looked at Sakura who gave a curt nod before they opened the scrolls.

When they opened it, one identical symbol was written on both scrolls.

"Person?" asked Sakura as she read the symbol.

Suddenly, puffs of smoke started to come out of the scroll.

"A summoning jutsu?" Sakura asked.

"Quick Naruto! Get rid of the scrolls!" commanded Sasuke as he dropped the scroll.

Naruto followed suit and the scrolls overlapped each other. A huge puff of smoke was seen before a figure emerged.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Naruto," replied Iruka, "I'm here to thoroughly congratulate you for reaching this far."

"Wait, sensei," said Naruto, "If we opened the scrolls in the forest, what would've happened to us?"

"You would've been knocked out," replied the teacher grimly.

"Sensei, we've read the message over there at the board," said Sakura, "but it seems like there's a missing word. Do you know what it is?"

"Absolutely Sakura," replied Iruka, "the missing word is actually on the scrolls."

"Person?" asked Sasuke.

"Yes, person. Earth represents the physical abilities, and Heaven represents the intellectual abilities. In order to become the best ninja there is, you'll need to have both in your system."

"Great!" said Naruto, "So…we pass?"

Iruka grinned at them, "You pass!"

Sasuke and Sakura sat down in exhaustion and relief while Naruto danced around triumphantly yelling, "WOOHOO! WE PASSED!" over and over.

"After all that, he still has so much energy?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke shrugged, "Wonder where he gets that from."

And they both smirked.

* * *

><p>Team Seven reached the assembly room where they were met with the others of Rookie Nine, Team Guy, the Sand Siblings, Kabuto Yakushi's team, and the Sound Genin that tried to take Sasuke.<p>

"So, Twenty-One have passed all in all, eh?" asked Anko.

Hayate Gekko, the proctor for the last part of exams nodded.

The Old Man Hokage came in and explained some things about the next stage of the chunin exams and then tells them that they're in the hands of Hayate Gekko.

"Congratulations to all of you whom passed, *cough*" said Hayate, "We didn't expect such a huge number of genin to get this far so we will be holding one-on-one preliminary matches to narrow the field."

The room was filled with "Awws" and disappointing sighs.

"Before we begin, are there any who would like to drop out?" he asked.

Kabuto Yakushi immediately raises his hand.

"All right, please leave immediately."

As Kabuto leaves the room, Naruto asks him why he forfeited.

"We had some battle with the sound ninja, and ever since then, I had lost my hearing in my left ear," he replied.

Naruto nods and waves at him.

"All right, let's begin," said Hayate as he pointed up at the machine.

The machine randomly picked some names and it turned out to be…

'**Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado'**

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>** Narrowing the Field: Sudden Death Elimination**

_"...but I want to watch the other matches..."_

_"...that was awesome, Sakura...!"_

_"...Sasuke can not lose control..."_

_"...congratulations to all of you..."_

_"...who's gonna train me...?"_

* * *

><p><strong><em>WOW. WOW. WOW. <em>**

**_I updated today cuz I got a little bored.  
><em>**

**_A big thank you to all the reviews that I've gotten for this fanfic. _**

**_I'm not sure if I should write a sequel though, because it all depends on how it ends. (and if all you demand it. :) )_**

**_TEEHEE. I'm so excited! :)_**

**_Thanks for reading! ~ Salamat sa Pagbabasa! ~ Gracias por leer! _**


	17. Sudden Death Elimination

**Narrowing the Field: Sudden Death Elimination**

**Disclaimer:**_** I do NOT own Naruto because if I did, then THIS would be the story line. ;)**_

* * *

><p>'<strong>Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado'<strong>

"Whoa," said Naruto, "Look Sasuke! First match of the day!"

"Hn," said Sasuke as he was about to go down the stairs, "this is gonna be fun."

"Good luck, Sasuke," said Sakura.

Sasuke looked back at her and his eyes widened. She smiled and he smirked.

"And be careful." Whispered Sakura so only he could hear.

He knew what she was talking about. The mark. He'd just have to make sure not to let it control him this time.

To reassure her a little, he gave her a nod.

Sasuke made his way to the other side of his opponent and Hayate called for the match to begin.

The match started with Yoroi having the upper hand, he was sucking Sasuke's chakra through some jutsu and Sasuke couldn't find the chakra to move.

But after a while, Sasuke was able to gain the upper hand using Lee's attack which he saw him use five days ago.

But while they were in the air, the tattoos that Sasuke once had started to appear again.

Most of the jounin noticed and some of the genin. Anko noticed it too, for she had one herself.

"Call of the match!" Anko shouted to Hayate.

"No, just wait." Hayate told her when the curse mark ceased to take over any further.

_No Sasuke, don't let it control you. _Sasuke told himself.

Sasuke thought back to when he first got these tattoos. His lust for blood and Sakura's terrified face. Not to mention the first time he saw her cry.

Unconsciously, he glanced over at his pink-haired teammate who had a worried look on her face and he remembered…

"_Be careful, Sasuke…"_

This was enough for him to gain control again and the curse mark receded.

Anko's eyes widened, "H-how?"

Kakashi was dumbfounded. _It receded… _Suspiciously, he glanced over at Sakura. Her expression was too hard to read.

Sasuke was able to finish Yoroi off after that little complication, and he emerged victorious.

"Sakura," whispered Naruto.

Sakura looked at him weirdly.

"Did you see that?" he asked/whispered, "There was something on Sasuke's neck, right?"

Sakura faked looking confused, "What are you talking about?"

"The thing, you know, on his neck." He whispered.

"I don't know." Sakura replied as she shrugged.

"Okay, maybe it was just my imagination." Said Naruto, shaking it off.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. _Sorry Naruto, I promised Sasuke…_

"_Sakura, promise me you won't tell Naruto about the mark on my neck." Said Sasuke. _

_Sakura nodded. "I promise."_

The exchange between Sakura and Naruto did not go unnoticed by their sensei. He became a little more suspicious.

Kakashi went to Sasuke after that. "Come with me," he told him.

"What?" asked Sasuke, "But I wanna watch the other matches."

"It'll just be fifteen minutes," assured Kakashi.

Sasuke shrugged and went along with Kakashi.

* * *

><p>"Hey," said Naruto, "where's Kakashi-sensei taking Sasuke?"<p>

"Probably to treat his wounds," Sakura said indifferently.

"Oh, okay." Said Naruto.

_(The other matches…)_

'**Shino Aburame vs. Zaku Abumi'**

Through the use of Shino's destruction bugs, he was able to win over Zaku.

'**Kankuro vs. Misumi Tsurugi'**

Kankuro easily wins against Misumi after tricking Misumi to attack one of Kankuro's puppets.

* * *

><p>"Those were some intense battles," said Naruto, "I wonder who's going next."<p>

Sakura simply shrugged.

Suddenly, a 'poof' of smoke had appeared and emerging from it was their teacher, Kakashi, and their teammate.

"Did we miss much?" asked Kakashi.

"Not really," replied Naruto, "Kankuro and Shino won their matches."

"Did you two already go?" Kakashi asked, referring to Naruto and Sakura.

"No, not yet," replied Naruto.

Kakashi raised a hand at Naruto and pointed to the board.

'**Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka'**

"Guess I spoke too soon," said Naruto.

Sakura simply was about to make her way downstairs.

"Hey Sakura!" said Naruto, "Good luck out there! You better win for me and Sasuke!"

Sasuke nodded.

Sakura smiled again. (The kind of smile that made Naruto, Sasuke and even Kakashi's hearts melt.)

Sakura was already in the arena, face-to-face with Ino.

"Wow, Sakura," said Ino, "I never thought that it would be between the two of us."

Sakura shrugged.

"Begin!"

"Hope you don't mind if I make the first move," Ino said as she released a smoke bomb.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed that Ino had made clones of herself.

"Which one am I?" all the Inos asked, clearly trying to provoke Sakura.

But Sakura just stood there with a bored, blank expression on her face as she raised an eyebrow.

"That's it!" Ino shouted as all the clones dove for Sakura.

When they did though, Sakura used substitution and placed one of the clones of Ino in her place. While they attacked Ino's clone, Sakura roundhouse-kicked one of the Inos into the wall. As the Ino that she kicked hit the wall, all the other Inos disappeared.

"H-how did you know it was me?" asked the real Ino, rubbing her head from the impact on the wall.

"Every person has a unique chakra signature," replied Sakura, "Even clones."

From the balcony, team Seven was intently watching Sakura; having a conversation of their own.

"What the heck?" Naruto cried out, "That would have knocked Ino out already!"

"I agree," replied Sasuke, "She's clearly holding back."

Kakashi nodded, amazed that they knew their teammate so well.

Back to the battle…

Ino was clearly recovering from her hit in the wall. But she needed to win this battle, so she formed a trap for Sakura.

"I'm gonna use my mind transfer justu on you!" announced Ino.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "You do know that if you do that, I'll be able to run right?"

"There's no harm in trying," said Ino, shrugging.

"Not if it would cause you the match," countered Sakura.

Ino still didn't listen as she positioned her hands to get ready for the mind transfer jutsu.

"If you don't hit me," said Sakura in a ready position to sprint, "it's all over you know."

Ino didn't listen and she yelled "Mind transfer jutsu!"

Sakura ran and felt herself step on something. After stepping on the thing though, she found that she could not move.

Ino started to chuckle, "You fell for my trap, huh Sakura?"

Sakura didn't respond.

"Now I'm gonna use my mind transfer justu on you for real to make you forfeit the match!" she announced again.

Naruto and Sasuke were gripping on the balcony.

_No way! Does Ino really have her? _Thought Naruto.

_Impossible. Sakura's not gonna lose this match. _Thought Sasuke.

_There's something off here…_Thought Kakashi.

Ino did her corresponding hand sign for the jutsu and again but before she could cry out, "Mind transfer jutsu!", Sakura had did some hand signs of her own, and she was gone.

"What?" Ino asked looking around nervously, "Where is she?"

Suddenly, two ghost-like hands appeared at either side of Ino and had crushed her to the ground, leaving Ino unconscious.

Sakura appears seconds later in front of Ino, and the hands disappear.

"The match is over," Hayate calls out, "Victory goes to Sakura Haruno."

From the balcony, Sakura could hear Naruto cheer like a maniac. Sasuke was smirking beside him.

When she reached her teammates, Naruto tackled her into a bone-crushing hug. "I knew you could do it, Sakura!" he told her.

"Great job," said Sasuke. (Which was weird because Sasuke _never _congratulates anyone.)

"Thank you guys," said Sakura.

"Wait, Sakura," said Kakashi, "You obviously knew that Ino had a trap for you right?"

Sakura nodded.

"Then why did you go along with your plan?" Kakashi asked.

"I wanted to try my new jutsu," she replied, "And maybe lead Ino into thinking that she really had the upper hand."

Kakashi ruffled her hair, "Well done, Sakura." And he turned to Naruto, "So Naruto, both your teammates made it. You better not lose or you'll be left behind."

"No way! I'm not gonna lose…believe it!" announced Naruto.

Sasuke smirked, Sakura giggled, and Kakashi ruffled the top of his hair.

They didn't notice that the other teams were watching Team Seven, and so was a certain Old Man Hokage who chuckled, "Good job, Kakashi."

* * *

><p><em>(The other matches…)<em>

'**Temari vs. Tenten'**

Tenten's weapon summonings are negated by Temari's wind-based attacks. Thus, Tenten is defeated.

'**Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi'**

Shikamaru outsmarts Kin, as he forces her unconscious. Revealing that Shikamaru won his battle.

* * *

><p>"I wanna go next!" Naruto whined.<p>

"Check the board, you loser," said Sasuke.

'**Naruto Uzumaki vs. Kiba Inuzuka'**

"OH YEAH!" blurted Naruto, "My turn! Just you wait, guys! I'll win this match for both of you!"

This left Sakura smiling and Sasuke smirking.

After using Naruto's new technique called "The Uzumaki Barrage". He was able to win the battle.

When Naruto reached his teammates, Kakashi had forced them into a group hug. "All of my students passed the prelimenaries," said Kakashi with anime tears in his eyes, "I'm so proud!"

Sasuke sweatdropped and Naruto turned purple due to the lack of air.

"That is just _so _out of character Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura.

Kakashi let them go and pouted under his mask while muttering, "No one acknowledges my efforts to be supportive."

* * *

><p><em>(The other matches…)<em>

'**Hinata Hyuga vs. Neji Nyuga'**

Hinata collapses from a cardiac arrest after Neji disables her ability to use chakra with their clan moves: the Gentle Fist Style. Neji wins.

'**Gaara vs. Rock Lee.'**

At the end of the match, Lee is crippled to the extent that he won't be able to fight again because of the amount of damage Gaara has done. Gaara wins the match.

'**Choji Akimichi vs. Dosu Kinuta'**

Despite having his own strategy for the fight, Choji quickly loses to Dosu.

"That concludes the preliminaries for the exams," Hayate says, "I congratulate the ten of you for making it this far."

He brought out a box with numbers in it and told each one to pick a number.

"Now, state your number."

"One," said Naruto.

"Two," said Neji.

"The two of you are opponents," says Hayate, "Next?"

"Three," said Shikamaru.

"Four," said Temari.

"Opponents," Hayate said pointing at Shikamaru then Temari.

"Five," says Sakura.

"Six," says Dosu.

Dosu gives a hard glare at Sakura which Sakura gladly returns with a look that says, 'I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to us back there.'

"Seven," says Gaara.

"Eight," says Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widen. _WHAT?_

"Nine," says Shino.

"Ten," says Kankuro.

"All right," says Hayate, "You've got your opponents, and you've got exactly one month to prepare for the next part of the exams. We are giving you one month so you can prepare and enhance more abilities and techniques. Until the next time, see you then."

Everyone disperses, ready and raring to train for the chunin exam finals.

* * *

><p>"So, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto, "I'm so ready to train!"<p>

"Uh, Sorry Naruto," says Kakashi apologetically, "I'm going to train Sasuke."

Naruto glares at Sasuke and he is happy to return it with a glare of his own.

"What?" said Naruto, "Then who's gonna train me?"

"I asked Ebisu to train you," Kakashi states and then turns to Sakura, "I haven't really figured out who to train you yet Sakura."

Sakura puts her finger to her chin and says, "I think I can find myself a trainer, Kakashi-sensei."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura nodded.

And with that, they went their separate ways to rest for a while before training.

* * *

><p><strong>Next:<strong>** Sakura's Trainer, A New Face Revealed!**

_"...don't you recognize me...?"_

_"...these scrolls are very important..."_

_"...let's go for some ramen guys...!"_

_"...are you ready for the finals..?"_

_"...thank you for everything..."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hey guys! I WAS SO BORED. :( And as you know, the more bored I get, the more I write...so it's actually a good thing for all you readers!<em>**

**_Wonder who Sakura's trainer's gonna be? STAY TUNED._**

**_Does Sasuke seem to have any intention to leave the village? :O I DON'T KNOW. :P_**

**_I'll try to update tomorrow before I leave for my cousin's house in Makati City. _**

**_Thanks for reading! ~ Salamat sa Pagbabasa! ~ Gracias por leer!_**


	18. Sakura's Trainer, A New Face Revealed!

**Sakura's Trainer, A New Face Revealed!**

**Disclaimer:**_** I love the anime/manga, Naruto...BUT I DO NOT OWN IT. :|**_

* * *

><p>Sakura was walking in the streets of Konoha, buying some groceries for her meals for the next week.<p>

She was so busy studying her groceries that she didn't see that someone was in front of her. _BUMP! _Sakura accidentally bumped into a woman nearby.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" said Sakura, "I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you okay?"

"That's fine my—Sakura?" the woman suddenly said.

This was the first time Sakura studied her appearance. The woman had waist-length red hair and sparkling cerulean eyes. She wore a short tight-fit blue kimono, just a shade darker than that of her eyes, and she wore black tights underneath.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, confused, "How do you know my name?"

"Sakura, don't you recognize me?" the woman asked tearing up.

Sakura slowly shook her head.

The woman started tearing up a little more, "Of course you don't! You were just a little baby when I saw you! Oh my gosh, you're so pretty! You got your mother's hair and your father's eyes. I haven't seen you in so long!"

"I'm sorry miss," said Sakura, "But I don't know you."

"Sorry, how silly of me!" she said, wiping away the tears, "I'm Ayana Tadashi, your father's best friend. Call me Auntie Ayana."

"My father's best friend?" Sakura asked, eyes widened.

"Let's talk some more at my house, okay?" Ayana said pulling on Sakura's arm, "This way."

Sakura was a little bit skeptical, but something in her mind told her to go with the woman anyway.

Ayana led Sakura to a small little house near a grass field with flowers of all colors. Before entering, Ayana took off her shoes so Sakura did the same.

"Welcome, welcome," said Ayana, "Please come in."

Sakura followed her and she was led into her small living room with a couch and a coffee table.

"Some tea?" Ayana asked Sakura.

"Sure. If it's not too much trouble," replied Sakura.

"Please, Sakura," said Ayana, "I've been making tea for ages!"

Sakura made herself comfortable on the couch and spotted something on the side table.

Carefully, Sakura picked it up and examined the faces. Her eyes lingered to a man with brown hair and emerald eyes, just like hers.

"I see you've seen the picture," Ayana said which startled Sakura.

Ayana set the tea tray on the table and poured tea on the cups. She gave one to Sakura and kept one for herself.

"Is this my father?" Sakura asked, pointing to the man with emerald eyes.

Ayana nodded. "That was taken the day we became jonin," she said before taking a sip of her tea.

"Then this must be you," said Sakura, pointing to a younger woman with similar features.

"Yes," Ayana replied.

"Who's this?" Sakura asked, pointing to a man to the left of Ayana.

Ayana placed her cup with tea down and looked down sadly. "That was my husband," she replied dimly.

"Wh-what happened to him?"

"He passed away like your father in the war," she replied sadly.

"Oh, I apologize," said Sakura, "I didn't mean to pry."

"Don't worry," she said reassuringly, "I'm glad I get to talk to someone about this."

Sakura looked at the picture again, "You were all teammates, huh?"

"Yes, and we were closer than a pack of wolves." She said, chuckling to herself. "I have to ask, though. What happened to your mother?"

Sakura put the picture down and sighed, "She passed away because of a sickness."

"But you have an older brother, right?" Ayana asked, "Hiroshi. How is he?"

Sakura's expression grew deadly, "I haven't heard from him since mother died. He left me."

"What do you mean he left you?"

"I don't know," Sakura replied, "I just fell asleep the night my mom died, and the next day, he was gone."

"So you've been living alone all this time?"

Sakura nodded.

"Are you a ninja?" Ayana asked.

"Yes I am," Sakura replied, "Actually, I have to find a trainer for the chunin exams soon."

"It's settled!" Ayana suddenly blurted out, "I'm going to train you!"

"W-what?" Sakura asked, "I wasn't asking for you to do such a thing."

"Trust me, no one knows more about the Haruno bloodline more than I do." Ayana said with a wink.

Sakura was perplexed. "How?"

"To tell you the truth," Ayana replied, "I always had a crush on your father. And I would train with him every day." Ayana then stood up and took a couple of scrolls from the shelves. "But to do that, I had to learn about your bloodline so that I could help your father train. These scrolls were your father's and he gave them to me to study. Every day, he'd give me another one and another one. Can you believe all the scrolls on those shelves were his?"

Sakura looked at the shelves; they were packed with different scrolls of shapes and sizes.

"Soon, I was studying them not to just get closer to your father," Ayana continued, "But because I was so fascinated with your bloodline that I just couldn't stop reading about it. But even though I don't possess the bloodline, I wanted to be lucky enough to know how it works."

Ayana looked at Sakura proudly, "And now, it could just be of great use!"

Sakura smiled at Ayana, "Thank you for doing this, Auntie Ayana."

Then, Ayana's expression turned hard. "I wish that I could be the one to take care of you. But I'll only be here for one month—until the chunin exam finals."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"I'm moving out of this village," Ayana replied, "You know, see the world."

"But Auntie Ayana," said Sakura, "That's just enough time for you to train me for the finals."

"Exactly!" said Ayana, giggling, "I sure am glad that I decided that I wanted to watch the finals before I leave."

"When do we start?" asked Sakura, her eyes shining with determination.

"Eager little girl aren't you?" said Ayana, shaking her head. "We start first thing tomorrow morning."

And with that, Sakura left her Auntie Ayana's house.

* * *

><p>Sakura was heading home when she spotted Naruto on the way.<p>

Naruto was the first to notice her though, and call out, "Hey Sakura!"

"Hi Naruto," said Sakura.

"Wanna go get some ramen with me?" asked Naruto, hopeful and blushing a little.

As if on cue, Sakura's stomach actually grumbled. Sakura blushed, embarrassed at the sound, "Sure."

"Have you ever tried Ichiraku ramen?" Naruto asked her on the way there, his heart fluttering around his chest.

"No, never."

Naruto turned pale and then "fainted".

"WHAT?" Naruto asked when he stood up again, "You've _never _tasted Ichiraku ramen?"

"Why?" Sakura counter-asked, "Isn't one ramen as good as any other ramen?" m

Naruto turned paler, "NO! Ichiraku ramen is the bestest and most delicious ramen in the universe!"

"Wait a second," said Sakura, "Are you telling me that you eat nothing but ramen your whole life?"

Naruto chuckled nervously, "Uh. Ahahahaha, no…"

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay, maybe!" Naruto replied truthfully.

"When was the last time you ate something other than ramen?" Sakura asked.

Naruto thought for a while then snapped his fingers, "When you gave me that rice ball during the chunin exams!"

Sakura sweatdropped.

They were almost going to the ramen stand when they came face-to-face with none other than Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke-bastard!" said Naruto which earned him a glare from said person.

"Hi Sasuke," said Sakura.

"Hn," said Sasuke nonchalantly, "Where are you two going?"

"Nowhere!" replied Naruto quickly.

"Ichiraku ramen," replied Sakura, "Wanna come?"

Naruto shook his head vigorously.

"Hn," replied Sasuke as he followed them.

On the way, Naruto started grumbling about Sasuke coming with them and 'ruining the moment'.

However, when they did reach the ramen shop, Naruto immediately ordered and ate until his heart's content.

Sakura was only halfway done with her own bowl, when Naruto ordered his third bowl.

_How much can Naruto eat? _Sakura asked herself.

"Oh, so Sakura," said Naruto, attempting to begin a conversation, "Did you find a trainer yet?"

"As a matter of fact," replied Sakura, "I have."

"Really? Who is it?" asked Naruto.

Sakura's eyes dropped to the ground, "My dad's teammate, Ayana Tadashi."

"How did you meet her?" asked Sasuke, who surprisingly joined the conversation.

"I happened to bump into her at the market," she replied, "How's your training, with Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke?"

"Hn, hasn't begun yet." Replied Sasuke, "Starting tomorrow and obviously he's gonna be late for it."

Naruto started to chuckle, "That's true."

"What about you," said Sasuke, "I haven't seen you training."

"Oh, this pervert kinda knocked out Ebisu," said Naruto.

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdroppped.

A pervert. Knocked out. Ebisu. WHAT. THE. HELL.

"So who's gonna train you, Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"I'm gonna go convince that pervert to train me," replied Naruto, "whether he wants to or not!"

"You loser," said Sasuke, "he might teach you techniques on how to peek on women like what perverts do."

"Ah?" Naruto placed his finger on his chin, "I never thought of that."

"That's because you're an idiot," said Sasuke.

"Oh yeah! At least I'm not a chicken-haired bastard!" countered Naruto.

"So you agreed that you're an idiot?"

"No way!"

"Well you didn't deny it."

"You didn't deny that you were a chicken-haired bastard either!"

Twitch. Twitch. Glare.

Naruto glared back.

And while they were consumed in an all out glaring contest, Sakura paid for her meal.

"You guys do know that if looks could kill," she said, "both of you would die on the spot, right?"

They glanced at Sakura and then glared back at each other.

"I better leave before blood spills on the floor," she said, teasingly.

Naruto broke off the glaring contest, "Leaving so soon, Sakura?"

"Have to." She replied, "Training starts tomorrow."

"Same here," said Sasuke.

"Oh yeah!" said Naruto, "I have to formulate a plan to get that pervie sage to train me!"

Naruto stood up like the two of them. "Bye guys!" he told them before running off in his own direction.

Sasuke and Sakura walked together until Sasuke's house. They never noticed that to get to Sakura's house, you had to pass by Sasuke's.

"See you later, Sasuke," Sakura said before walking away.

Sasuke stared at her retreating figure.

_Ever since I can remember, I always only thought about revenge on my brother. But when the loser and Sakura came along, what consumes my mind is the need to either become stronger than them or grow stronger with them. _Sasuke thought to himself, _I wonder if this is a good thing…_

He waited for Sakura's silhouette to disappear completely before he went inside his own house.

* * *

><p>The next day, Sakura was waiting at the training grounds for Ayana to be able to begin her training.<p>

After a few minutes of waiting, she saw Ayana wave from a few meters away. Sakura waved back.

Ayana approached Sakura, "Good morning Sakura."

"Good morning Auntie Ayana," said Sakura.

"Are you ready to begin?" Ayana asked.

"Of course."

"Good," said Ayana who brought out a scroll from her backpack.

"Let me explain something to you first," said Ayana, motioning with her hand for Sakura to come closer.

Sakura did as she was told.

"For your training for the chunin exams, we are gonna try to let you learn the four basic elements first. Which are?"

"Water, fire, air, and earth." Sakura replied.

"Correct," said Ayana, "Which one of these elements have you already tried using?"

"Mostly water and earth," Sakura replied.

"Alright, so we might have to focus on fire and air more…" said Ayana reading the scroll.

"Auntie Ayana, once I've mastered the four basic elements, what comes next?" Sakura asked.

"Then you can train on the more advanced elements such as lightning and ice," replied Ayana, "And maybe even sound."

"Sound is an element?"

"I don't know," Ayana admitted, "but it says so in the scrolls."

Ayana put down the scroll and said, "Sakura, are you ready to begin?"

"Ready," Sakura replied, her eyes shining with eagerness.

"Let the training begin!"

* * *

><p><strong><span>Next:<span> The Chunin Exam Finals: A ruse? **

_"...Sasuke's not yet here..."_

_"...wha-what's happening...?"_

_"...this is it, Sakura..."_

_"...goodbye..."_

_"...I'm gonna take you on..."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hi peoplezz! I promised I updated today and A PROMISE IS A PROMISE! So here you go!<em>**

**_Btw, I would like to use this opportunity to thank all my reviewers for all their support..._**

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	19. The Chunin Exam Finals: A Ruse?

**The Chunin Exam Finals: A ruse?**

**Disclaimer: _FYI, I DON'T own Naruto. Neither do you. (Unless of course I'm talking to Masashi Kishimoto)_**

* * *

><p>"This is it, Sakura."<p>

"I know, and I'm kind of nervous…"

"Don't be! I trained you well!"

"But…"

Ayana placed a finger on Sakura's lips before she can even continue, "You'll do great!"

Sakura seemed eager to go, and then her expression turned into that of disappointment. "Are you sure you can't watch me, Auntie Ayana?"

"My moving van came early," replied Ayana, her face sober, "I wouldn't want to cause too much trouble."

"Okay," said Sakura with a sigh.

"And by the way," said Ayana while motioning for Sakura to come closer so she could whisper the next part, "Don't come too early. You should go there during the match before yours."

"Why?" asked Sakura.

"Well, we don't want to be too expected, don't we?" Ayana said with a wink.

Sakura smiled back.

"And I heard that there might be something bad happening during the chunin exams," said Ayana, serious, "Please be careful."

"I'll be fine," said Sakura, "Don't worry."

Their moment was ruined by the sound of the van beeping, it seemed to cry out, 'hurry up! We've got to go!'

"That's my cue," said Ayana quietly.

"I know."

Ayana pulled Sakura into a gentle hug which Sakura gratefully returned.

"You have more power than you can ever imagine," Ayana whispered into Sakura's hair.

"Thank you for everything," said Sakura.

"You're welcome," said Ayana, "I'll come visit soon."

Sakura nodded and Ayana scrambled inside.

"And also…" said Ayana as she brought out a whole box from inside of the truck, "These are yours now!"

Sakura looked inside the box and saw that it was filled to the brim with the scrolls that her father gave Ayana.

"They're all in here?" Sakura asked.

"Every single one."

"Thank you again!"

As Ayana got into the van, she waved at Sakura. "Oh and I forgot! Good luck!"

Sakura just waved back and stared at the van until it was out of view. "Goodbye…" said Sakura to no one in particular.

She then left to wade away her time before coming into the chunin exams "late".

* * *

><p>Naruto though, was already at the chunin exam arena and talking to Shikamaru.<p>

"Hey Shikamaru, where are the others?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," replied Shikamaru, "It's a real drag, really."

Suddenly, Naruto started looking around frantically. _Where are they?_

"What are you doing?" asked Shikamaru.

"Nothing it's just that…" replied Naruto while looking back at him, "…Sakura and Sasuke aren't here yet."

"Uh huh," said Shikamaru, looking around in one fluid motion, "Sakura's opponent isn't here yet, too."

"That creepy guy isn't here yet?" asked Naruto.

"No."

Naruto looked over to the entrance, "Where can they be…?"

* * *

><p>Sakura was at her house thinking of ways to pass the time. She's already eaten two rice balls, so she decided to go over and read some of the scrolls that Ayana had given her.<p>

While she was reading though, she remembered something…

"_Hey Sakura!" _

"_What's up, Naruto?" _

_Naruto looked to the ground and fiddled with his fingers, "Um…for the chunin exams…I'm the first match…" _

"_And…?" Sakura asked when Naruto hesitated to continue._

"_I was wondering if maybe you could be there to watch my match and cheer me on," said Naruto with a shaky/nervous voice, "Heh. If you want to…"_

_Sakura opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. _

_Naruto thought that this was some way of denying his request and he hung his head down. _

"_Sure Naruto," said Sakura. _

_Naruto looked up and his face brightened immediately. "Really?"_

"_Yeah," said Sakura, "And don't forget that I'm gonna have to fight a match too so I'm gonna be there anyway."_

"_Oh yeah," said Naruto, "Well I just wanted to ask you personally, you know. Just in case you were thinking of coming late or something…" His voice seemed to trail._

_Sakura placed his hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile, "Don't worry about it…teammate." _

_Naruto's face turned pink and grinned. "Thanks…I appreciate it, Sakura."_

That moment just slipped Sakura's mind and she just totally forgot!

She hastily got up and started making her way to the arena, quietly wishing that Naruto's match wasn't over yet.

She hated not being able to keep a promise.

Unconsciously, she found herself sprinting to her destination.

* * *

><p>Naruto was already getting beaten up by Neji—hard.<p>

Neji had already blocked out his chakra paths, thereby, causing his ability to use chakra impossible.

Naruto was so tired, and he was already beginning to lose all hope. Not to mention the fact that his favorite cherry blossom cheerleader wasn't even there. (He suddenly got the image of Sakura in a hot cheerleader's uniform cheering "GO NARUTO!") He's been glancing at the railing where the other competitors were supposed to wait for the past fifteen minutes of the match and there was no sign of her or his raven-haired teammate.

Neji was giving him another lecture about destiny and how Naruto was 'destined' to lose this fight.

Naruto looked to the ground and closed his eyes as Neji punched him again. This sent him flying to the wall in the other side of the arena.

Naruto fell on his knees and he was clearly having a hard time already without being able to use his chakra at all. But he wasn't giving up! No way! This is Naruto we're talking about…

Anyways, he glanced up to the railing one more time and he saw what he had wanted to see all along. The minute he saw her, he felt like he had swallowed twenty bowls of ramen—enough to give him the power to be able to beat Neji.

* * *

><p>Sakura climbed up the stairs that led to the railing where the competitors could watch and wait for their turn.<p>

Upstairs, she was met by Shikamaru.

"Oi Sakura!"

"Hi Shikamaru," said Sakura, "Is Naruto's match done?"

"Not yet," he replied, "I feel bad for the poor kid. Neji's not giving him an easy time, that's for sure."

Sakura then went up to the railing just in time to see Naruto get punched to the wall at the other end of the arena.

"No, Naruto." She whispered to herself, hoping that at least Naruto could hear her.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked over to the railing and…Sakura! She was there…with a very worried expression on her face.<p>

Naruto felt so empowered now. It's like his energy came back, two-fold.

But it was like he could read her mind, their eyes locked.

Sakura had a worried expression as if saying, "Naruto! You can't give up! You better win this match!"

Naruto returned with one that said, "Me? Lose? No way! I'll win this one for you, Sakura!"

Sakura's expression became relieved, "Good luck! I'm cheering you on!"

After a few minutes of silence, Naruto began to glow with some sort of powerful, red-colored chakra.

"Neji!" Naruto called out, "I'm not gonna lose this match! No way!"

* * *

><p>"What's happening?" Shikamaru asked Sakura.<p>

"Naruto's about to win," she answered with a smirk.

* * *

><p>Naruto drew the Naruto draws on the demon fox's strength, surprising many of the older ninja present with his ability to use the fox's chakra.<p>

Following an explosive clash between the two, Naruto manages to defeat Neji through the use of a shadow clone as a decoy. He landed a huge punch on Neji's jaw, that landed him unconscious and unable to continue.

"Stop putting so much faith in fate," Naruto said.

He then looked over to Sakura and grinned one of his famous grins. He also brought a thumbs up.

Sakura smiled sweetly and nodded at him.

And then, Naruto was jumping up and down yelling, "All right! I won! Woo hoo!"

Then Naruto goes up the railing and clears the area for the next match.

Once Naruto sees Sakura, he jumps her and envelopes her in a bone-crushing hug. "I knew you'd come Sakura! I just knew you would!"

"Yeah…can't…breathe…"

"Whoops," said Naruto, letting go of her, "Sorry Sakura!"

"Congratulations by the way,"

"Thanks Sakura!" Naruto said with a tint of pink on his cheeks.

* * *

><p>(<em>A basic summary of Shikamaru's match…SOURCE: Wikipedia.)<em>

Though initially unwilling, Shikamaru fights Temari because he refuses to lose to a girl (and was pushed off the waiting room by Naruto). Shikamaru quickly studies the arena and its elements and comes up with a plan. Despite this, Temari has seen Shikamaru's primary attack in action and knows how it works. However, Shikamaru's strategies enable him to capture Temari with his jutsu, but he forfeits due to his lack of chakra and unwillingness to hit a girl.

"What a drag," said Shikamaru yawning and rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

><p>Back at the railing, Naruto jumps up and down like an anxious puppy saying, "Hey Sakura! Sakura! Hey! Hey Sakura! Hey! Hey!" (Reminds me of the annoying orange…-_-')<p>

"What is it, Naruto?" Sakura asked, a vein popping on her head.

"It's your match next right?" asked Naruto with a sly smile on his face that looked like a Siamese cat. (Seriously, it's _that _creepy.)

"Uh…yeah…" replied Sakura, completely weirded out.

Naruto then looked down at the arena from the railing above, "Hey Sakura, the arena's all ready for ya. You better get going now!"

But when Naruto turned around, Sakura wasn't there anymore.

"What? What the heck? Where is she?" Naruto said looking from side to side.

Someone touches his shoulder and Naruto jumps.

"Hey, hey," Shikamaru says and raises his hands as if saying, 'hold your fire', "Calm down."

"Oh, it's just you Shikamaru."

"Anyways, Sakura's already down there getting ready to begin her match." Said Shikamaru pointing down at the arena.

"Really?" asked Naruto as he rushed over to the railing, "Whatever Sakura's got up her sleeve it's gonna be amazing, I'll tell you that."

_I know. Everything she does is amazing, _Thought Shikamaru. (Wait…did he actually just think that?)

"Shhhhh, the match is starting!" said Naruto waving his arm up and down.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto like he was crazy. _I didn't even say anything…_

* * *

><p>Sakura made her way down to face her opponent. Dosu.<p>

"Nice to see you again, Haruno."

"Dosu," Sakura acknowledged through narrowed eyes.

"Ready…Begin!"

"This match will be over quickly," said Dosu.

"I absolutely agree," said Sakura.

"Ladies first," Dosu said when Sakura refused to make a move.

"No…I insist that you go first."

"Fine then." And Dosu aimed a punch at Sakura's stomach.

Sakura was quick to dodge it though, and her hands were quick enough to land a punch on his jaw.

Dosu stumbled back a little but regained his stance after a few seconds. He then tried to land a kick on Sakura's back.

Sakura was able to use substitution so instead of hitting her, Dosu had hit a log. Sakura took this opportunity to land a round-house kick on his back.

Dosu was flung into a nearby tree and stumbled a bit to stand up again.

"Enough with this!" Dosu growled, "It's time to get serious!" He brought out his hands and made some swift handsigns.

Before Sakura knew it, she was trapped inside a box made out of chakra.

Dosu just stood there and chuckled to himself as Sakura struggled to kick and punch the walls of the trap to break. "It's no use little girl, that wall is made entirely of my chakra. It's indestructible and impossible to escape."

After a few minutes of struggling, Sakura gave up the thought of escaping. "So what now? I'll be trapped in this box and then…?" She asked.

"I was hoping you would ask that," he said as he made another handsign.

Sakura looked around and nothing was happening. Suddenly, she heard sounds. As the seconds went by, the sounds got louder and louder, up to the point that it was painful to even hear them. Sakura covered her ears in an attempt to escape the noises, but they just kept getting louder and louder. She fell on her knees and closed her eyes, her hands still covering her ears.

"Tell me when you've had enough," Dosu said, evilly. "And when you can, you can forfeit."

_This is excruciating, _thought Sakura, _what am I gonna do? He's using sound….so…That's it!_

Carefully, Sakura removes her hands from her ears and does a couple of hand signs and tries to block out the sounds as much as possible while doing it.

From the outside, you can see that Sakura begins to open her eyes and then stand up without any difficulty.

"What? This can't be!" Dosu growled from the outside, "What's happening?"

Suddenly, the box made out of chakra that Dosu had made, begins to expand. It expands to its fullest, but then, it breaks, freeing Sakura from the inside.

As the air escapes from the inside, you can see Sakura's cherry pink hair flowing with the wind. She opens her eyes and says, "Oh Dosu," she shakes her head, "Don't you know that sound travels slowest in air?"

Dosu's eyes widen and he steps back, "You've used a wind style justu?"

Sakura nods, "Yes, and unfortunately your chakra trap couldn't handle that much air in it."

"But that's impossible!" he yells, "You've only used Earth jutsus well! How were you able to perfect a wind technique when your specialty must be earth?"

"That's a stupid question," Sakura states, shaking her head and closing her eyes. She makes a couple of hand signs, opens her eyes, and says, "I'm a Haruno." And that was the last thing she says before a gigantic ball of fire had came out of her mouth.

Dosu puts his arm in front of his eyes, in an attempt to block the fire to hit him. He waited for the pain to come but it never did. He opens his eyes and he finds that the fire had settled in a circle around him. "What?" Dosu asks, "That's it?"

Sakura narrows her eyes, "Not even close." She makes a couple of hand signs and gigantic vines come out of the ring of fire. Not only that—they catch the fire which makes them 'gigantic _flaming _vines of death'.

The vines were approaching Dosu swiftly, but before it could even touch him, fear had overcome Dosu. "Wait! Stop it! Stop it! Please!"

Sakura raises her hand and the vine stops inches before Dosu's face.

"I forfeit," Dosu says in defeat, trembling out of fear.

Sakura puts her hand down and everything disappears. Not only that, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

"Uh…" the proctor says, trying to take in everything that had happened, "Due to a forfeit by Dosu, Sakura Haruno wins this match."

Dosu approaches Sakura and kneels in front of her, "Sakura! I know for certain that you wanted to kill me, but I would like to apologize for what I did to you and your teammates in the forest of death! I didn't know what I was dealing with and I just didn't want to die today."

Sakura blinks and him and raises an eyebrow, "I wasn't gonna kill you."

"You weren't?"

"No," she replied and smiled fakely, "My jutsu would have just hurt you severely but not kill you."

Dosu couldn't help but cringe at the thought.

Sakura leaves him there and goes upstairs to join Naruto.

Sakura went upstairs and found Naruto pouting. "It was just getting good and he forfeits!" Naruto complained.

He looks over at Sakura and then grins, "Great job, Sakura! That was amazing! Where did you learn those things? That was so cool!"

Sakura just smiles.

"Congratulations," said a lazy Shikamaru who was seated on the floor.

"Thank you," said Sakura.

Naruto stands up and then looks around, "Hey Sakura, have you seen Sasuke? It's already his turn and he's not even here yet."

"Actually…"

_Sakura was making her way towards the arena when someone called from the training grounds. _

"_Oi Sakura!" _

_She looked to the direction of the voice and found Kakashi there with Sasuke. She started to approach them. _

"_You're running a little late, aren't you, Sakura?" Kakashi asked._

"_Yeah, well…a little last minute training never hurts," she lied._

"_We're still training a little too." Said Kakashi. _

_She looked over to Sasuke who was panting heavily beside him. 'Doesn't look so __**little **__to me…' _

"_Aren't you guys gonna go there yet?" she asked._

"_Hmm?" said Kakashi, "Oh yeah. We'll be running a little late but we'll be there." _

_Sakura nods and then turns to leave. _

"_Wait, Sakura…" said Sasuke. _

_Sakura turns to face her teammate. "Yeah?"_

"_Good luck," he says, "Oh, and say 'good luck' to the dope for me. He better not lose." _

"_Will do," she says, "See you later, Sasuke." _

_She then leaves and makes her way towards the arena. _

"Really?" asked Naruto.

"I guess they're a little later than what we expected," said Sakura.

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto exclaims, "This is Kakashi-sensei we're talking about! Of course they'll be extremely late!"

"You're right, Naruto." Said Sakura while thinking, _they better get here…_

The proctor looked from side to side, looking for a certain Uchiha.

"Give Sasuke ten minutes," the Hokage states, "If he doesn't arrive, then we'll take it as a forfeit."

Sakura and Naruto's eyes widen.

"Don't you think we should look for Sasuke, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"No, Naruto, they'll be here."

"I know they will. I believe they'll be here! Believe it!"

"I believe it." Sakura replies which earns a laugh from Naruto.

* * *

><p><em>Ten…nine…<em>

"They're not here yet, Sakura, there's only ten seconds left!" Naruto exclaims.

…_eight…seven…_

"Have faith, Naruto. They'll be here."

_...six…five…_

"I'm a little worried, Sakura."

…_four…three…_

Sakura bit her lip, "Me too."

…_two…on—_

In an instant, a giant smoke cloud had appeared. And when it cleared, it revealed…

"Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out.

"Hmm? Are we late? Sorry about that." Kakashi said.

Naruto and Sakura could only sweatdrop.

The proctor had a vein popping on his forehead, "Let's just start the match already."

Gaara stood on the left side, Sasuke stood on the right.

"Begin!"

Sasuke's enhanced speed and taijutsu skills enable him to bypass Gaara's sand-based defenses with ease, as Rock Lee did previously. Determined to kill Sasuke, Gaara retreats inside a sphere of sand and begins to transform.

To break through Gaara's defense, Sasuke uses his new jutsu, Chidori. With it, Sasuke is able to pierce Gaara's shield, stopping his transformation.

At that moment, the whole audience falls asleep and Sasuke's arm was stuck in the shield of sand.

Once he was able to get out, Temari and Kankuro take Gaara away so that he could recover.

Sasuke looks over and sees Sakura standing in the railing, they lock eyes for a second and Sakura nods.

Sasuke scrambles off to find Gaara and finish it.

Kakashi looks around and notices that Sakura had been able to repel the genjutsu.

"Sakura!" Kakashi exclaims then makes his way over to her, "I knew you'd be able to repel the genjutsu."

"Genjutsu? What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, very confused.

"The finals was a ruse, Sakura! They're invading Konoha!" Kakashi exclaims.

"What? Who?"

"Sound! That's who."

"What should we do?" Sakura asks.

"Wake up Naruto and Shikamaru from the genjutsu and find Sasuke. I'll send Pakkun along too." Kakashi instructs.

"Okay," said Sakura as she turns away.

"Be careful, Sakura. This is the second A-rank mission since the land of waves." He tells her before he goes.

In an instant, Pakkun appears beside her and nods.

Sakura kneels beside Naruto and wakes him up.

"Uh…Sakura? What's happening?" Naruto asked, rubbing his eyes.

Sakura kneels over to Shikamaru and begins to wake him but she finds out that he was awake anyway.

"Why did you play possum, huh?" Sakura teases.

"It's such a drag, I just went with the flow." Shikamaru responds.

"Can someone please explain here?" Naruto asked.

Sakura grabs Naruto's arm, "I'll explain on the way."

And with that, they began to search for Sasuke.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Next:<span> Village in Distress: A New A-Ranked Mission**

_"...fight me..."_

_"...that didn't help at all..."_

_"...you, me, and Sasuke..."_

_"...we actually did it..."_

_"...just promise me one thing..."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>So...I'm sorry I only updated now. I had a WRITER'S BLOCK. (Damn those things. DX) <em>**

**_I'll try to update tomorrow too. Note the word 'try'. _**

**_School's about to begin soon and I don't want summer to end yet! :(( WAH!_**

**_Anyways, I put a little ShikaSaku and NaruSaku there for you. _**

**_And if you're looking for a SasuSaku moment, please wait. I only get SOME occassions where Sasuke's alone with Sakura. :(_**

**_Thanks for all your reviews and support! They're the things that keep me going. :)_**


	20. A New A ranked Mission!

**Village in Distress: A New A-ranked Mission!**

**Disclaimer:**_**I ADMIT IT! I ADMIT THAT…I do NOT own Naruto or its characters.**_

* * *

><p>"So Sasuke ran off to chase Gaara?" Naruto asked after Sakura had explained the whole situation to him.<p>

"Yeah, and Konoha's under invasion," Sakura said, "We've just been assigned to save Sasuke before it's too late."

"Too late?" Naruto asked, "What do you mean 'too late'."

Sakura stopped in her tracks and images of Lee getting hurt flashed in her head.

Naruto and Shikamaru stopped when she did, and Pakkun looked back to see what the hold up was.

Sakura looked at Naruto with a solemn expression, "Do you remember what happened to Rock Lee during the preliminaries?"

"Yea—OH MY GOSH! THAT'S WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO SASUKE?" Naruto asked, the terror showing in his face.

"Wow, Naruto," said Sakura, "I never thought you cared about Sasuke that much."

"Of course I care Sakura!" replied Naruto, "After all, we never had our final battle yet! I want to know which one of us is really the best!"

Shikamaru sweatdropped, but Sakura knew better. _He's only saying that, but I bet he cares about Sasuke as much as I do…_

"Pakkun, are we getting closer?" Sakura asked the dog.

"I'm not sure, Sasuke is constantly moving. But anyways, I sense a presence on one of the branches a few feet away." Replied Pakkun.

Shikamaru, Sakura, and Naruto leapt from branch to branch and spotted Temari standing on one of them.

"I'm not letting you get to Gaara," Temari said.

Naruto and Sakura took their fighting stances but Shikamaru stepped in front of them and said, "Tch. Let me handle this one. You guys go ahead with Pakkun before it's too late."

Pakkun nodded and moved on, Naruto followed suit, Sakura looked back at Shikamaru and thanked him before she too followed.

"Hey there pineapple-head," said Temari, "We never got to finish out match out there, did we?"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he took in a fighting stance.

On the other hand, Naruto and Sakura were still tailing Sasuke when Pakkun abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong Pakkun?" asked Naruto.

"Sasuke stopped moving," replied Pakkun, sniffing the air one more time.

"We better get there before he starts moving again," suggested Sakura as she overtook Naruto.

"He-hey! Wait for me!" said Naruto who was almost left behind.

They covered a few feet before Pakkun said, "He's starting to move again!"

"We've got to pick up the pace," said Sakura.

They moved a little faster and passed by a very beaten up Kankuro, they stopped to check out what happened.

"What happened?" Naruto asked him.

"Sasuke…Gaara…dangerous…you must…help…Gaara," he said, before his world became black.

"Is he dead?" Naruto asked and started poking him.

Sakura looked at Naruto disbelievingly and shook her head.

Pakkun sniffed the air, "We better get out of here, his female companion is on her way as we speak."

"Temari…" said Sakura.

"Then what happened to Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, worried for his friend.

"No time for that," Pakkun said, "Sasuke's with the Sand kid just a few meters from here. Let's go."

"O-okay."

"Right."

After another ten minutes of leaping from branch to branch, they spotted Sasuke standing in front of a half-transformed Shukaku.

"Yo Bastard!" Naruto yelled out.

"Sasuke," said Sakura.

"Sakura. Loser. What are you doing here?" he asked them.

"Didn't think we'd let you have all the fun now, did ya?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke smirked.

Sakura took a seat on one of the branches.

Naruto looked at Sakura, confused. "What are you doing, Sakura?"

Sakura sat properly and let her legs hang loosely on the edge of the branch, "I just thought that since Sasuke's match was interfered, he'd like to handle this on his own."

"Wait—what?" Naruto asked.

"Just take a seat and enjoy the show, you idiot." Said Sasuke, completely agreeing with Sakura. "Thank you, Sakura."

"No problem," she told him as she smiled sweetly. (This made Sasuke's heart melt.)

Naruto strode off from Sasuke's side and Indian-sat beside Sakura mumbling something about Sasuke 'always having the fun'. He pouted and crossed his arms.

"Real mature, Naruto." Sakura said sarcastically, while rolling her eyes.

Sasuke has yet to make a move and Gaara was slowly transforming into Shukaku, thereby, increasing his strength and speed greatly.

Sasuke prepares to use his chidori, but remembers something that Kakashi told him the day before…

_Sasuke was panting heavily after practicing the jutsu twice in a row. _

_Kakashi merely watched his student with a raised eyebrow. "Looks like you're chakra's good enough for two blows," he said to Sasuke. _

_Sasuke just turned around and stared at his sensei, trying to slow his breathing. _

"_If you try another one," Kakashi said seriously and chuckled bitterly, "let's just say the consequences would be deadly." _

_This is the last I could do. _Sasuke thought, feeling the sparks of lightning on his hand, _this has got to finish it, or else…_

Charging quickly, Sasuke managed to land a blow on Gaara's arm, slicing it.

Sasuke jumps away, exhausted. He glared when he saw that it hadn't effected Gaara at all. In fact, he was chuckling evilly.

_I think I might have aroused him to kill me even more, _thought Sasuke. _I need to use the Chidori one more time._

Out of stubbornness, Sasuke tries his technique a third time and he unknowingly uses the aid of the curse seal. Slowly, tattoos were beginning to cover his body.

* * *

><p>Naruto noticed this and turned over to Sakura, "Sakura! What's wrong with Sasuke? Why are there tattoos all over his body?" he asked her, his voice desperate.<p>

Sakura bit her lip, _Can I tell him? _"That's a really long story, Naruto…why don't I tell you later?"

Naruto eyed her suspiciously, "Okay." And then, he turned his attention back to the battle.

_No, Sasuke! Don't let it control you again! _Thought Sakura.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was able to land another blow on Gaara, but again, it didn't affect him at all.<p>

In a flash, Sasuke felt his body go numb. And though conscious, he collapses to the ground. _I can't keep this up, I need help. _Slowly, he turns his head over to Sakura and Naruto. He catches Sakura's gaze and tried to tell her 'help'.

It's a good thing Sakura understood.

"Let's go, Naruto." She told Naruto, who immediately jumped up and blocked the attack that Gaara was supposed to launch on Sasuke.

Gaara spins and uses his tail to knock Naruto into one of the surrounding trees.

With Naruto trying to recover, Gaara approaches Naruto.

Sakura jumps over to Sasuke's side. "Sasuke, are you alright?" she asked him.

He nods meekly, "Don't worry about me. But I can't say the same for Naruto…that guy is dangerous. We can't beat him, you have to get out of here right now."

"I'm not leaving you," she replied, "or Naruto." She glances back at the blonde-haired boy and then at Sasuke. "After all we've been through, you guys became more than teammates to me. You made me remember what it feels like not to be alone."

Sasuke felt his face heat up. _Thank goodness for these tattoos, _he thought. "You too, Sakura." He told her, not really stating what he agreed to, "Just promise me one thing."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Don't die in this battle," he told her as he held her gaze.

Sakura shook her head, "I won't."

"In fact, don't let the idiot die either," he added, humoring her. p

It worked, she giggled. "Yeah…stay here until you recover."

Sasuke nodded and Sakura headed where Naruto was.

"Be careful…Sakura." He whispered.

Sakura jumped over beside Naruto.

"What's the plan?" Naruto asked her.

"You didn't have a plan?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Well…I was making everything up as I went along," Naruto admitted.

Sakura smacked her forehead with her palm, "That worked out _well_, didn't it?" she said sarcastically.

"Not really," Naruto replied, not catching what Sakura implied.

"Anyways, what have you figured out so far?" She asked him.

"Huh?" said Naruto blankly, "What do you mean?"

"Anything that you've encountered in the battle," she replied, "Maybe we can use something against it."

Naruto thought long and hard and then sheepishly smiled at Sakura, "I've got nothing."

Sakura hung her head in despair and sweatdropped.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do." She told him, "You're gonna go fight Gaara one more time, I'll observe from over there," Sakura points to a high branch, "and then we'll formulate a plan."

Naruto grinned, "I like your style, Sakura!" And he jumped away to fight Gaara.

Sakura watched from above.

"Here, beast-y, beast-y, beast-y! Here, beast!" Naruto purred out.

Sakura couldn't help but think, _he's not a dog, stupid. _

Gaara stepped right in front of Naruto, "I'm gonna finish you off! The sight of your blood would be amazing!"

Naruto cringed but went on with his plan.

"Multi-shadow clone jutsu!"

When the clones appeared, Sakura estimated it to be at least two thousand clones.

"Uzumaki Barrage!" All of the clones shouted in chorus.

Sakura watched the battle unfold.

About 11-20 of them kicked Gaara into the air and the a few others punch Gaara on every inch of his body. Two clones were left behind to land a powerful kick on Gaara as the final blow.

But that's not all, once the final 'blow' was thrown, every Naruto got out one of their shuriken and threw them at Gaara, he simply blocked it with his tail.

Though it made Gaara stumble a few steps back, it didn't affect him at all. To end it quickly, Gaara spun his tail 360 degrees and all the Naruto clones disappeared, Naruto was thrown backwards into another tree into the forest.

Sakura watched and thought, _That didn't help at all. _

Naruto jumped over to Sakura, "So…what did you find out so far?"

"Nothing!" She cried out in exasperation, "It's like—it's like he has no weakness whatsoever! No matter what you throw at him, his demon body doesn't get damaged! And if a single ninja tries to—" Sakura paused herself.

"What? What is it, Sakura?" Naruto asked her.

"A single ninja," She repeated, "That's it, Naruto!"

"What's it?" Naruto jumped excitedly.

"We need to work together Naruto," she said.

"Yeah, we tried that…"

"No!" she said, "I mean all three of us! You, me and Sasuke."

"But Sasuke's—"

"You called?" A voice interrupted from behind.

"Sasuke-bastard!" Naruto exclaimed.

"My chakra's dangerously low," he said, "But I can do one final attack."

Sakura smirked, "That's all we're gonna need."

* * *

><p>Gaara was in the clearing making sure he looked all around for his three victims.<p>

"Where are you hiding?" he growled out.

Naruto stepped out in front of him, "Right here."

Gaara laughed, "That's not a smart move." He swung his tail right at him, and Naruto disappeared.

"A clone?" Gaara growled as a few hundred more jumped on him, punching and kicking his body inch by inch.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he asked, trying to shake them off. He found himself stumbling a few steps back every time he threw some off. But it was no use, the clones he threw off kept jumping back on him.

When he reached a particular area, one of the Narutos called out, "Now Sakura!"

Before Gaara could think, all the Narutos moved out of the way and giant vines shot of from every angle, entangling him. The deadliest one was on his neck, because if it was tightened even just a little, the results would be fatal.

The vines had rendered him immobile, as Sakura thought because she injected it with some kind of poison to paralyze him.

"What's this?" Gaara asked, "I can't move!"

"Now Sasuke!" Sakura called out.

"Fire style: Pheonix Flower justu!" Sasuke cried out as five gigantic balls of fire came out of his mouth and lit Sakura's vines on fire.

"AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!" Gaara cried/growled, "Mother! IT BURNS!"

Closing his eyes, Gaara thought back to all those days when people treated him like a monster. His mother, his father, his sister, his brother, and everyone who showed affection for him. Thinking back, he saw darkness overpower him, and he slowly fell unconscious.

Gaara fell to the ground and Team Seven hovered above him.

"Did we…beat him?" Naruto asked, unsurely.

"What a stupid question, you idiot, look at him, do you think we beat him?" Sasuke asked stoically.

"Yes…" answered Naruto unsurely.

Sakura nodded and Sasuke sighed in frustration.

Naruto started jumping up and down like a deranged dog singing, "We did it! We did it! Uh huh! We did it! Uh huh! Yeah! We did it! Yeah!"

He pulled Sasuke and Sakura up into a group hug and cried out, "Team Seven is the best team ever!" Then he let go.

Sakura nodded in agreement and Sasuke silently agreed.

They all looked at Gaara simultaneously.

"What should we do?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke and Sakura shrugged.

"We'll take him," said an unfamiliar voice from behind.

There was Temari and Kankuro all bruised and beaten up.

"Thank you for bringing Gaara back to his senses," said Temari.

Kankuro pulled Gaara onto his back, "I still can't believe you three—out of all people—were able to beat him."

Kankuro and Temari bowed in gratefulness and left without another word.

There was a moment of silence between the three until…

"Hey guys!"

"Ahh!" The whole team seven (yes, even Sasuke) exclaimed.

"Geez, calm down," Pakkun said.

"Where did you come from?" Naruto asked, looking around.

Pakkun scratched his ear nervously, "I kinda hid when you guys fought…"

"You didn't even bother to help us?" Naruto scolded.

"Very sorry about that," said Pakkun, "But we need to get back to the village now. To treat your wounds and…"

"And what?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"The Hokage…he passed away." Pakkun said.

"No way! Old man Hokage died?" Naruto exclaimed.

Pakkun nodded sadly. "But at least you three finished up here," he said.

"Yeah…"

"Let's get going, then?" Pakkun asked already jumping away.

The three nodded.

And going back, they played their own racing game, leaping from branch to branch as fast as their exhausted selves could carry them. Occasionally laughing and overtaking each other.

Pakkun watched the three. _I've never seen a team as close as these three are…_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Next:<span> Itachi Returns! Who are you after?**

_"...let's go Sakura..."_

_"...I'm trapped in a genjutsu..."_

_"...Itachi..."_

_"...I'll get stronger..."_

_"...the Akatsuki...?"_


	21. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please read

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE**_

**_To my AWESOME FANFIC READERS! XD_**

**_First of all, thank you so much for all your support/criticism for the past chapters and thank you so much for helping me reach: 100 REVIEWS! (Oh yeah! Baby!)_**

**_I would like to say that I take all of the constructive criticism to heart and that is why I'm going to stop writing chapters for now..._**

**_AND FOCUS ON REWRITING MY "SABOG" CHAPTERS! (That's a tagalog word for incoherent/rushed). _**

**_Aww...don't cry my lovely readers! (T-T) Think of it as a simple renovation that would last...ONE WEEK? TWO WEEKS TOPS? :)_**

**_I know you guys were so excited on reading the next part about the Akatsuki...(especially, you ONION BAY /:) but I would like to perfect my other chapters first before I move on. And besides, no one likes a CRAPPY fanfic, do they? _**

**_I'm going to add more DETAIL (And more pairing moments *wink*)._**

**_Other than that, I'm gonna re-write my summary too. :")_**

**_So wish me the best of luck and I hope you don't start throwing FLAMES at me for doing this.(T-T) After all, a writer's gotta do what a writer's gotta do. _**

**_I LOVE YOU ALL! :* _**

**_P.S. Please feel free to re-read the story over once I "fix" it. It's just that when I read it again, the chapters were just so CRAPPY and LACKING DETAIL. :) Leave me a PM if you want me to add/dedicate something for you. _**

- This is Kat11992 (Kate/Kat) signing off. for now. :)


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